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A couple recently faced an extraordinary home invasion-not by burglars, but by an estimated 70,000 bees. The unusual situation began when their young daughter, Saylor, complained of strange noises in her bedroom wall, convinced there were “monsters” lurking inside.
Ashley Massis Class and her husband first became aware of the issue in September 2023 after Saylor struggled to sleep, fearful of the humming sounds coming from her closet. Despite their efforts to reassure her, the noises persisted. By February 2024, Saylor had moved into her parents’ bedroom, prompting Ashley to investigate when she spotted bees near the attic’s laundry vent.
The family sought help from three different beekeepers before the full scope of the problem was uncovered. The final expert discovered bees entering through a small gap in a window into the attic and building a massive hive inside the wall cavity of Saylor’s room. Using a thermal camera, the beekeeper detected a large, shadowy shape-“more than 6 feet tall, looking like a man in a top hat,” Ashley recalled-revealing the hive’s alarming size.
The bees were most active between midnight and 4 a.m., well after Saylor had been put to bed. Removing the hive proved to be a dramatic ordeal.
While Ashley, allergic to bees, stayed safely downstairs with her daughter, her husband witnessed the beekeeper breaking open the wall. The sudden release of thousands of bees caused him to flee, describing it as “like a horror movie” with bees swarming everywhere.
Over the following weeks, the hive was painstakingly removed in stages-20,000 bees one week, another 20,000 the next-until all 70,000 were safely relocated. The ordeal wasn’t cheap; insurance refused to cover the damage, labeling it preventable, so the family took out a $20,000 loan to pay for repairs.
Despite the harrowing experience, Ashley reports that Saylor has no fear of bees and, given the species’ endangered status, the family takes comfort in knowing they helped protect a vital part of the ecosystem. The home has since been restored, and the couple hopes their story raises awareness about the importance of coexistence with nature’s smallest creatures.