Metro

Woman discovers 50,000 bees in her NYC apartment

A Queens condo resident who had gotten friendly with the “blanket of bees” that frequented her terrace never realized that 50,000 of the busy buzzers had made a home in her bedroom ceiling.

Frieda Turkmenilli, 66, received the shocking news Thursday afternoon after bee experts spent hours scouring her building to find where all the bees were coming from.

“It looked like a blanket of them,” Turkmenilli told The Post of the bees on her terrace. “I was stung about four or five times.”

Neighbors had already reported the burdensome bees to building manager, Mike Candan, who had called in the best in the business — recently retired NYPD bee expert, Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis.

With the help of a thermal detector and his partner-in-crime, “Honeybee Helper” Larry Stone, Planakis got to work investigating the Gregory Hall Condominium in search of the honey hummers. The duo spent about six hours looking inside the various apartments in the building before their radar buzzed in Turkmenilli’s bedroom.

After removing a two-foot portion of her ceiling, they uncovered a massive beehive oozing with delicious honey and more than 50,000 bees.

“One hundred seemed enormous, but 50,000 [bees],” Turkmenilli said when she found out how many unwanted roommates she had been living with.”You should have seen the amount of honey.”

Planakis said Thursday’s discovery was the biggest swarm of bees he’s ever been called in to investigate although he has an “incredible” beehive with more than 70,000 at his home.

This hive likely started forming last August, Planakis estimated, and weighed 15 pounds, which is equivalent to about 50,000 bees.

Turkmenilli, who’s been living in the building for 19 years, said she had no idea the bees were in her bedroom, and Planakis said it’s likely they were able to swarm and “send out troops” quickly.

“They made a nest in there,” he added. “If it’s something you’re not looking for, you’re not going to see it.”

Planakis said it felt good to be back on the job, especially with Stone, who he met through mutual friends and often bumps into at the gym.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment,” he said. “You save people from getting injured and you save bees.”

While this incident may have terrorized some New Yorkers, Turkmenilli said “bees don’t bother me.”

“The bees are my friends,” she said. “I get more respect from the bees than human beings.”

The bees will now be housed at Stone’s upstate bee haven, where he can watch and study them.