It all began in September 2023 when my three-year-old daughter, Saylor, started having trouble sleeping. She said there were monsters in her closet and that she could hear a hum in the wall. We figured it was because she loved the movie Monsters, Inc., which is about monsters visiting children’s bedrooms at night. To calm her, we gave her a bottle of water we called “monster spray.”
But soon she was scared again. By February, she was back sleeping in our room. Later that month, I spotted a huge cluster of bees buzzing near the attic laundry vent outside. I was pregnant with our third child and exhausted, so I thought I might be imagining things.
We called a beekeeper to check it out, and he said everything was fine. A second beekeeper said the same.
It wasn’t until a third beekeeper came that we got answers. He noticed bees flying into the attic floorboards and asked what was below them—Saylor’s bedroom. He scanned the attic floor with a thermal camera but saw nothing. Then he said, “In over 30 years, I’ve never seen this, but let’s check the walls.” When he pointed the camera at Saylor’s bedroom wall, the screen lit up like Christmas lights.
That’s when we saw it: a shape over six feet tall. It looked like a man in a top hat. I was stunned.
It turned out bees were getting into our attic through a tiny hole in a window. From there, they slipped through the floorboards and built a massive hive inside the wall cavity.
The beekeeper wanted to open the wall with a hammer. My husband stayed with him while I waited downstairs with Saylor and her brother—I’m allergic to bees. Suddenly, I heard the beekeeper shout, “Oh my God, take cover!” My husband ran out of the room. He said it was like a horror movie: bees poured out, flying everywhere. It was pandemonium.
The beekeeper used a special vacuum contraption to gently remove the bees. That day, he took out 40,000 bees and over 100 pounds of honeycomb from our wall. He’d never seen anything like it.
The whole process took hours, and the captured bees buzzed loudly. We showed Saylor the box they were in and asked if that was the noise she’d been hearing. She said, “Yep, that’s the monsters.” She seemed vindicated, as if thinking, You guys are idiots. This is what I’ve been talking about.
We later learned that bees are most active between midnight and 4 a.m. We’d been putting Saylor to bed at 7 p.m. We had no idea how to help her—no one imagined thousands of bees were living in our wall.
When the beekeeper arrived in his suit, I worried Saylor would be scared. I told her he was the beekeeper, but she said, “No, that’s a monster hunter.” She was excited to see him. Every time he came back, she’d ask, “You got more?”
Everything in her room was covered in honey—books, blankets, toys. The beekeeper explained that many bees would be out pollinating during the day, so more would return at night. He made a hole in the wall, sealed it, and said he’d return in two weeks. He also warned about “robber bees” that come to eat the leftover honey.
Two weeks later, he removed another 20,000 bees. Two weeks after that, another 10,000.
He finally sealed the hole in July. Repairing the damage cost us $20,000, and we had to take out a loan because our insurance wouldn’t cover it. They considered the damage preventable, even though the beekeeper called it a “once-in-a-lifetime” event.
Everything is fixed now, but sometimes I worry the bees will come back. After the work was done, Saylor wanted nothing to do with her old room—I don’t blame her. We turned it into a nursery for my son.
Sometimes I still catch myself feeling the walls in that room, just to make sure there’s nothing there. Thankfully, I don’t think Saylor is scared anymore.She’s scared of bees, but she didn’t seem bothered by them. The beekeeper took the bees to his apiary. Since bees are endangered and people are working to help their population grow, I think it’s safe to say we’ve done our part.
As told to Isabelle Aron
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Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about a house being swarmed by 70000 bees written in a natural conversational tone
Immediate Reaction Safety
Q Oh my gosh is this dangerous Should I call 911
A A swarm itself is usually not aggressive as the bees are focused on protecting their queen and finding a new home However 70000 bees is an enormous overwhelming number Do not call 911 unless someone is being actively stung and having a severe allergic reaction Instead stay indoors keep windowsdoors closed and contact a professional beekeeper or exterminator immediately
Q What should I do right now
A 1 Stay Calm and Stay Inside 2 Keep pets and children indoors 3 Do not spray them with water or insecticidesthis will aggravate them 4 Look up and call a local bee removal specialist or beekeeper
Q Will they sting me if I go outside
A If you give them space and dont swat or threaten the cluster they likely wont sting But with a swarm this large the risk of accidental disturbance is high Its best to avoid the area entirely until a professional assesses it
Understanding the Situation
Q Why did 70000 bees pick MY house
A Its not personal A honeybee hive becomes overcrowded so the old queen leaves with about half the colony to find a new home Your house might have looked like a perfect protected cavity to their scout bees The number 70000 suggests a very large healthy hive has just swarmed
Q Whats the difference between a swarm and an established hive or nest
A A
