After believing a monster was responsible for strange noises coming from the wall near her closet for the past eight months, a little girl from North Carolina finally knows what all the fuss is about.
The little girl's mother, Ashley Klass, told NBC News this week that she called beekeeper Curtis Collins after she discovered the bees in the attic of her century-old farm.
Using a thermal camera in the 3-year-old's room a few weeks ago, Collins was able to spot a beehive weighing more than 100 pounds.
“I'm not kidding, it lit up like Christmas on the wall next to my daughter's closet,” Klass recalled seeing the thermal imaging. “When I first thought he was like a man in the wall, I was really flabbergasted.”
After the discovery, Collins began extraction efforts, which came in three waves over several days. He said the hive, which contained more than 50,000 bees, was twice the size of any other hive he had removed.
“It was like the end of the world, that's all I could think about,” Klass said. “All these bees are starting to fly.”
In the midst of clearing the toddler's room of bees, Collins also worked to rescue the swarm.
“It's all a process of trying to save the bees and keep the hive going,” Collins told NBC News.
Klass chronicled the situation on TikTok, where her videos showed dead bees lashing the floor, honey bleeding from the ceiling, and a slew of other damage to the home. These videos will reach over 9 million views.
Unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover the estimated cost of the damage, which will cost Klass more than $20,000.
“It's a good thing we saved all those bees,” she said. “But I'm ready to fire them.”
As for her daughter, who once complained about hearing monsters in her wall at night, she has a new nickname for Collins, according to Ashley.
“She looked at him directly and said, 'He's not a beekeeper. He's a monster hunter.'”
. “Professional creator. Lifelong thinker. Reader. Beer buff. Troublemaker. Evil problem solver.”