I reviewed a possible cut out yesterday in a rural house that has been unoccupied for 2 years. The realtor has to get the hive removed before putting it on the market. The hive appears to be living in the basement wall and floor joists. At some point they chewed through the ceiling tile and even built some exposed comb that's now abandoned. It had to be HUGE at one time. The hive either died and a swarm has moved in or they have swarmed so many times their population is down dramatically. They are bringing in pollen so there's active larva in there. The trafic flow to and from the entrance is that of a swarm and there are adult wax moths present in the basement. Nonetheless while reviewing this there were what appeared to be 2 swarms that had issued and died inside the house. The dead bees were in front of the windows, 2" to 3" deep and 8"-10" wide and 2' long. Fortunately they'd been dead for a year or so, so the smell was gone.
My photos don't do it justice so I'll get more if I get the job. It was creepy down there and I expected to hear, "It puts the lotion on it's skin or it gets the hose again" any second... Has anyone seen something like this before?