The Buzzing Monster in the Walls
According to NBC News, Ashley Class, the mother of the toddler who heard the sounds of bees buzzing, discovered the hive in the attic of her century-old farmhouse.
Source: classashley/TikTok
Beekeeper Curtis Collins came to the house and used a thermal camera to locate all the places where the beehive extended.
The Massive Hive
“I kid you not, it lit up like Christmas in the wall right next to my daughter’s closet,” Class recalled about seeing the thermal imaging. “When I first thought it was like a man in the wall, I was really startled.”
Source: classashley/TikTok
Following the extensive images captured of the beehive, Collins began extracting the beehive.
The Hive Weighted Over 100 Pounds
Collins’s extraction efforts took over several days as he carefully removed more than 100 pounds from the attic and the walls.
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“It was like an apocalypse, is all I can think about,” Class said. “It’s just all these bees that started flying out.”
Beekeeper Removes 50,000 Bees
The beekeeper told NBC News that the hive, which housed more than 50,000 bees, was twice the size of any other hive he has removed.
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Collins also worked to save as much of the swarm as possible. “It’s all a process to try to save the bees, and keep the hive going,” Collins told NBC News.
The Monster Is Gone
Class and her daughter, who had complained of hearing monsters in her wall at night, are glad to see the bees gone.
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“She looked straight at him and said, ‘He’s not a beekeeper. He’s a monster hunter,'” Class told NBC News.
Class Documents the Removal
Class chronicled the entire discovery and removal process on her TikTok page. One video, which gained over 9 million views, showed the bees who did not survive the removal, the honey oozing from the ceiling, and other damages done to the house by the hive.
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Unfortunately, for Class and her family, insurance is not covering the estimated $20,000 in damages.
Insurance Doesn’t Cover Bee Damage
Most homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover the removal and damages caused by pest infestations from termites, bed bugs, or—in this case—bees.
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Some insurance policies do cover beehive removal, but most homeowners don’t anticipate a hive weighing up to 100 pounds finding its way into their walls.
Is There a Beehive In Your Home?
While hives can start small, making them unnoticeable to people in the house, they can quickly grow in size and become quite a nuisance due to the noise they produce.
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Some ways homeowners can identify if they have unwelcome visitors in their homes are by spotting a bee in the house, listening closely to the wall, or placing a hand against the wall to feel for vibrations.
What To Do If Bees Are in Your Home
While it may be unnerving to have a bee in the house, they will typically leave you alone as they go about their busy work.
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Bees are important to ecology and every aspect of food production. While, yes, it is unnerving to have a bee in the house, they will typically leave you alone as they go about their busy work.
Call a Local Beekeeper
Instead of panicking, try to find a local beekeeper who can come and extract the bees from the home. These beekeepers set up a plastic tent around the area of the house the bees are in to keep them from flying to other parts of the house.
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Then, they cut open the wall and suck up the bees into a special vacuum that collects them along with the remaining hive and honeycomb.
The Lingering Effects of a Bee Hive
If done correctly, the beekeeper won’t leave a big mess behind. There will likely be a lingering wax and honey smell filling the house. Other smells might come with a bigger hive, but every situation is different.
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If you believe bees are in your walls, reaching out to your insurance to check for coverage is the best course of action. If not, find a local beekeeper who will be more than glad to remove the bees for you!