RECENT
AFRICANIZED HONEY BEE STORIES REPORTED IN THE MEDIA
(Stories are non-edited.
List is not comprehensive; news headlines are capitalized; introductions
are italicized)
US stinging incidents resulting in serious injury to man or domestic animals are still widely reported in the press, as are also minor events in newly colonized areas. However, minor casualties do not always make local news in those communities where Africanized bees are well established. The Los Angeles Times (3/13/94) reported The Tucson Citizen " ... all but stopped reporting routine bee incidents" as early as 1994.
BEES ATTACK MID-TOWN MEN AND DOGS
TUCSON, AZ -- A midtown man and his dogs are nursing their wounds after a swarm of bees attacked them Sunday.
Around 3:30pm, a neighbor heard the man yelling for help, near 13th and Venice. The neighbor used a water hose to spray the bees, which then stung him.
He says the bees finally left after firefighters sprayed them with chemicals.
The injuries are not serious. (Teresa Jun, KOLD 13 News, 2/21/10.)
TWO MAIL CARRIERS ATTACKED
BY BEES
PHOENIX, AZ --- Two mail carriers were attacked by a swarm of bees as they delivered mail Friday afternoon near 59th Avenue and Bell Road, officials said.
The Phoenix Fire Department responded to a call that a mail carrier had been stung multiple times by bees near 59th Avenue and Aire Libre. When firefighters arrived, they discovered two mail carriers, a man and a woman, had been attacked as they delivered mail to a community mail box.
They were taken to an area hospital for treatment, said Scott Walker, spokesman for Phoenix Fire Department.
Residents in the area were asked to stay indoors while firefighters searched for the hive. About 20 minutes later, the hive was found and firefighters used foam to kill the bees because they had attacked.
Once the hive was taken care of, residents were told it was OK to leave their homes, Walker said. (Allison Hurtado, The Arizona Republic, 2/19/10.)
NORTH PHOENIX NEWS
FD: 2 MAIL CARRIERS STUNG IN NORTH PHOENIX BEE ATTACK
2 MAIL CARRIERS WERE STUNG IN THE ATTACK
PHOENIX, AZ -- Fire officials say two mail carriers stung by bees have been transported to a Valley hospital.
Phoenix fire spokesman Scott Walker said the male and female postal workers were stung by a swarm of bees when they walked up to a community mailbox near 59th Street and Bell Road around noon Friday.
Fire Captain Joel Navarro said as one worker was being stung, the other
came to help and was also stung.
Walker said each was stung multiple times and that their injuries are not serious.
They were transported to Mayo Hospital for treatment.
Firefighters went door-to-door warning nearby residents to stay indoors while the hive was located.
Crews located the swarm and applied foam to the hive; a bee keeper was called in to extinguish the swarm, according to Walker.
Residents were allowed to leave their homes once the swarm was brought under control. (Deborah Stocks, ABC 15.COM, 2/19/10.)
MIAMI-DADE MAN DIES WHILE APPARENTLY
TRYING TO REMOVE BEEHIVE
MIAMI-DADE, FL --- A man in Southwest Miami-Dade was found dead early Tuesday near a colony of tens of thousands of bees, though it's unclear if his death was caused by stings from the bees.
Miami-Dade homicide investigators were at the scene, but it will be up to the medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.
Police said they could not say whether the man died from a heart attack, a fall or from bee stings.
The man's name was not disclosed, but Capt. Jeffrey Fobb, who works with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit, said fire rescue workers found the victim dressed in a partial protective bee suit about 50 feet from a ``large colony of bees that contained in his estimation 50,000 to 60,000 bees.''
``We all had to don full protective bee suits to secure the body,'' Fobb said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials were called about 8 a.m. to the home in the 10800 block of Southwest 84th Street. The victim was found on top of the roof of a three-story apartment complex. The hive, which measured about three feet, was near the roof.
The victim wore protective gear that covered his head and upper body, but not the rest of his body, said Fobb, who said authorities had not determined why the victim was working with the bees.
Neighbors told authorities they had been having problems with a beehive for the past 18 months, Fobb said.
The victim's body will be taken to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. (Tim Chapman And Jennifer Lebovich, The Miami Herald, 11/3/09.)
BEES SWARM YUMA GROVE; 1 STUNG
YUMA, AZ --- One citrus worker was taken to the hospital Monday after a bee attack in a Yuma grove.
The Yuma Fire Department (YFD) responded to the incident and treated a male victim for multiple bee stings. They then transported the worker to Yuma Regional Medical Center.
The attack happened in a citrus grove along Avenue 2 1/2E.
According to a news release from YFD, the injured laborer was part of a group working in the citrus grove when the swarm was disturbed. The bees continued to be a threat to other workers in the area. The grove is also in close proximity to schools.
YFD Spokesman Mike Erfert said because of the continued threat, firefighters in protective gear used foam to spray and destroy the swarm.
This is the most recent of bee attacks in recent months, Erfert said.
"It just seems like the bees are in those groves and something disturbs them and they can be a problem for those workers," he said.
This is at least the second bee incident that YFD has recently responded to, he said.
Fire departments do respond in situations involving bees, according to the news release, but only in life-safety matters when people are being attacked or they have been injured.
Yumans should always be aware of surrounding and alert for potential threats, according to the release. (Stephanie A. Wilken, Yuma Sun, 11/2/09.)
KISSIMMEE FIREFIGHTERS: RESIDENTS
TRYING TO EXTERMINATE BEES CAUSED BLAZE THAT LEFT DOZENS HOMELESS
KISSIMMEE, FL --- Acting on a tip, Kissimmee fire officials today determined that two residents trying to exterminate bees sparked a fire that left 30 people homeless and destroyed a building.
Two residents doused a beehive with flammable spray as it hung from a second-floor landing at Villa del Sol condominiums, firefighters said. They then lit a match and touched it to the hive, causing flames to erupt.
The residents sprayed the hive with a fire extinguisher, left and didn't realize that fire was still burning, a fire department spokeswoman said.
The flames broke out Sunday just before 9 p.m. at the complex at 2250 N. Hoagland Blvd. and gutted a three-story block of 22 apartments. It took more than 50 firefighters to extinguish the blaze. The 392-unit complex was built a decade ago as Tropical Isle apartments.
Two firefighters were injured when they were pinned to a third-floor landing and the roof collapsed. They were going door to door trying to evacuate the building.
No one has been charged, but the State Fire Marshal's office is continuing to investigate. (Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel, 10/29/09.)
DOG BEE ATTACK LIKE "SOMETHING OUT OF A 'HALLOWEEN' MOVIE"
SAN ANTONIO, TX --- Fire crews rescued a dog over the weekend after it was attacked by a swarm of bees on the southeast side.
The Castro family recently took in the stray animal. When the bees attacked two people were stung trying to help Rex, but there was little they could do.
Fire crews pulled out the protective gear and foam to save Rex.
"These bees were really aggressive. They must have been the Africanized strain because...we were just swarmed by them. Luckily my son wasn't stung," said John Castro.
The bees were so aggressive, emergency crews had to block off the entire street.
"It was very scary, like something out of a 'Halloween' movie," said Castros' son, John.
Rex was given some Benadryl an is expected to be okay.(KENS-TV 5 News, 10/26/09.)
MAN STUNG BY BEES RELEASED FROM S&W
TEMPLE, TX --- A man stung more than 200 times by bees was released from the hospital Monday.
Marcos Sauseda, 67, of Belton went home with his wife, 76-year-old Ramona, after spending three days in ICU at Scott and White Memorial Hospital.
"He is still sore," the couple's daughter, Eloise Taylor, said.
The couple was attacked by bees Saturday morning when Mr. Sauseda was mowing his daughter's lawn on Old Highway 95 in Temple.
Mr. Sauseda said he was covered in bees in a matter of seconds and fell to the ground unable to move. His wife made her way to the road and flagged down a passer-by.
That is when the Sausedas say the man they call their guardian angel stopped and risked his safety to help the couple.
"I picked him (Sauseda) up over my left shoulder and ran with him as far as I could. There had to be 500 bees on his back," Kenneth Watson said.
Watson put Mrs. Sauseda into his car and went to flag down the ambulance before rushing her to the emergency room.
Watson was stung multiple times as well and spent about three hours in the hospital, while Mrs. Sauseda stayed overnight.
Little River-Academy Volunteer Fire Chief David Borders was the first emergency responder on the scene.
"I saw the patient lying on the ground covered in bees. Bees were everywhere. There were more than I had seen in my life," Borders said.
Borders heard Sauseda screaming for help and said he couldn't just sit there and not do anything.
"I got out of the vehicle and put my jacket on his face and as soon as I did they started attacking my face," he said. "I dragged him about 25 to 50 yards down the driveway while we were being sprayed down with water to keep the bees off."
Borders was treated on scene, but said it took him several hours on Saturday to recover from the stings, the worst of which were in his lip.
Temple Fire and Rescue located the bees by a barn and sprayed the area with foam from a truck while they waited for Walker Honey in Rogers to arrive to treat the hive. (Jennifer Thompson, Templeton Daily Telegraph, 10/20/09.)
BEE ATTACK: BELTON COUPLE STUNG MORE THAN 200 TIMES
TEMPLE, TX --- A beehive can be seen on Eloise Taylor's property in Temple. Her father, Marcos Sauseda, was attacked by the bees while working on the property on Saturday. Also stung were Sauseda's wife, Ramona, and Kenneth Watson, who stopped to help them. (Jennifer Thompson/Telegram)
When 26-year-old Kenneth Watson saw a woman waving at him from the side of the road, he thought she was telling him he was driving too fast. Since he wasn't, Watson turned around and discovered the woman and her husband had been attacked by bees - and the husband was still covered in them.
"It was like he was wearing a suit of bees," Watson said of 67-year-old Marcos Sauseda.
Sauseda was still in ICU at Scott & White Memorial Hospital on Sunday recovering from more than 200 bee stings, a day after he happened on a large hive on his daughter's property on Old Highway 95 in Temple.
But he was able to describe the attack.
"I was hit in the back of the head first, and then my entire back and arms were covered. I pulled my jacket over my head to keep them from attacking my face, but they got my face, nose and ears," Sauseda said.
"I rolled on the grass to stop them and put my face against the earth. The next thing I remember is someone saying, 'Put your arms out.'
"It's a terrible feeling to be lying down and you can't get away," he said.
Sauseda had been mowing his daughter's lawn while she was at work and had brought out a stool for his wife, 76-year-old Ramona, to sit on.
"He thought it was such a beautiful day, so he decided to get started on it," daughter Eloise Taylor said.
Before long, Mrs. Sauseda saw her husband fall to the ground.
"I thought he was having a heart attack because he has a bad heart," she said. "I got up and went to him and he yelled 'Go away,' but I told him 'I want to help you.'"
That is when the bees started to attack her.
"I didn't know what to do, so I got the gasoline and I poured some on me and him too. I asked him 'What do I do now,' and he said 'Call 911,' but I told him I can't because my hands won't let me," Mrs. Sauseda said.
She then made a difficult trek with only one fully functioning leg to the road, a distance of about 200 yards, to flag someone down.
"A lot of people kept on going. This one car passed but after he saw me still standing there, he knew something was wrong. I told him the bees have stung me, and my husband is down there and he still can't get up," she said.
Watson, of Belton, pulled into the driveway and dialed 911. He didn't see any bees then, but he said as soon as he stepped out of his car, they started stinging him.
"I ran to the back of the house to find the husband and found him on the ground yelling for help," he said. "I could see him covered in bees.
"I figured I had already been stung, so I picked him up over my left shoulder and ran with him as far as I could. The sound of the bees humming was like the sound of a helicopter," Watson said. "There had to be 500 bees on his back."
Watson then ran to the road to flag down the ambulance. When it got there and started treating Mr. Sauseda, Watson put Mrs. Sauseda into his car and took her to the emergency room.
"The bees continued to sting us the entire way. I just held her hand and told her it will be OK," he said.
Watson spent about three hours in the hospital and Mrs. Sausedo stayed overnight.
The Sausedas, of Belton, call Watson their guardian angel.
"God bless him for turning around and stopping and giving aid. If it wasn't for him I'd probably be dead," Mr. Sauseda said.
Watson just wants the couple to be OK.
"I knew I was going to be OK," he said. "I was just worried about them." (Jennifer Thompson, Templeton Daily Telegraph, 10/19/09.)
DEADLY ATTACK BY KILLER BEES
IN ROARING CREEK
ROARING CREEK, BELIZE --- There was a deadly attack by killer bees over the weekend. The victim was a farmer from Roaring Creek who was overcome by a swarm of Africanized bees. Keith Swift has more.
Keith Swift Reporting,
These are five out of the swarm of killer bees which attacked and killed
77 year old Domingo Mendoza. The attack occurred on Saturday morning under
this tree on his farm in Roaring Creek. His son Fidel Mendoza says that
when he found his father around 11:30 on Saturday morning he was already
dead.
Fidel Mendoza, Son
of Deceased
"He was over there lying down with a red towel over his head. When
I found him I hauled him and pulled him out because he had his head underneath
some grass. When I picked up the man from where he was, I took off the
towel from off his face, which he had wrapped around his face.
When I took off the towel from across his face, I noticed that 'lone bees bite up di man in his face. And meanwhile I was taking off the towel, he had a lot of cold coming out through his nose and when I opened his mouth he had blood in his mouth and thing. And when I checked his hands, his hands were blue, his ears mi done get blue already. So I had my cousin with me, he met halfway on the road and I told him to come and assist me.
So I took him out and I put him on the ground over here and I told him to reverse the vehicle and let's try to get him out from here and take him to the hospital as fast as possible but when we took him to the hospital it was already too late. He was done dead already."
Fidel says that Saturday morning his father was on the farm spraying gramaxzone to kill grass. Tragically, Domingo Mendoza didn't know that there was a swarm of killer bees in this bri bri tree above him.
Fidel Mendoza,
"The man was spraying in this area here. He sprayed his first can
of poison. When he finished the first can he mixed the second can and
while mixing the second can he came out and the bees looked like they
decide they are going to attack him. He put down the tank of poison, got
into the vehicle, rolled up the two back glass, rolled up the passenger
glass at the front, started the vehicle and tried to reverse coming out.
But when he reversed coming out, the bees flocked him in the face and were biting him. So he took a towel from how I see it, he took his towel and he wrapped it around his face. But meanwhile he was reversing out, the amount of venom which was already in him got him weak and so the vehicle shut down on him and he decided to come out of the vehicle. Then he came out of the vehicle and he stumbled on a log."
This is that log that Domingo fell over. Today when we visited the Mendoza farm, the bees were still swarming around the tree. If you look closely enough you can see. They may look small and harmless but in swarms they are deadly. In fact while we were with Fidel, he got stung on his face and his forehead became swollen.
Fidel Mendoza,
"The bees live in a hole in the tree. If you want you can turn the
camera to the bees right there. See them right over there."
Keith Swift,
"So he was attacked because he was spraying the poison on the grass?"
Fidel Mendoza,
"Yes, probably it seems that the scent that the poison let go, the
first can which it sprayed, the first half can, he released it and it
has a funny scent and to me it got to the bees and so the bees came out
and then they attacked the man."
It is a difficult loss for the family of this senior but active farmer.
Fidel Mendoza,
"It is really a shock for we to understand how the man dead because
the man is not a man who suffer from no kind of sickness and thing. The
only thing the man had was his arthritis pain and the man is a man who
doesn't give up. The man even had his crotch-stick which he walks with.
His arthritis could di hambug he but he still wouldn't give up. He would
still come here with his crotch-stick and he would chop. He has his bucket
which he sits on. When he is tired he would rest and sit down on that
bucket and relax a little bit and get up and chop again because he always
tell you that the way how his parents bring him up, that is the way how
he survived and that is the way how he bring up his pickney them. He raised
all of we on the farm and thing and ih really rough for we mein. Up to
yet I still can't believe that the man dead and thing but I have to accept
it."
Reporting for 7News, Keith Swift.
The bees that are on the Mendoza farm are reportedly from a swarm that came from Guatemala. The Mendoza's have basically been told by the ministry of agriculture that they'll have to get rid of the bees themselves because the tree is too high. So Fidel Mendoza says they plan to burn down the tree. They plan to do it at night which is when bees reportedly have a problem seeing.
It is of note that Africanized bees are known to be aggressive and defensive. Typically, they attack perceived threats and they do so in large numbers which might explain Saturday morning's unfortunate and deadly attack. (Keith Swift, TV 7 Belize, 10/19/09.)
BEES ATTACK AGAIN
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX --- There's been another bee attack on Brushwood. near Carroll High School and despite several dozen stings, the victim survived.
Oscar Brisles spent the afternoon letting paramedics pull out bee stingers from his arms and from his head.
"He's got about 20 to 35 bites. He's pretty tough," a firefighter said.
Brisles and his nephew were doing some yard work at a home on Brushwood when they stirred up a swarm of bees in a shed.
"I was weeding around there and by the time I was done they were all around me," Brisles said.
"All of a sudden I saw him running and he was covered in bees, so I went and helped him all a block away. They were still following us and there was a lady back there who was loading stuff in a van and they got her too," Israel Lopez said.
The house is vacant, allowing the bees to gather unnoticed.
"[He was stung] about 30 times or 25 times. I got four right on my ears and somewhere over here and on my shoulder, [a total of five or six.] He got the most of it," Lopez said.
Both men had heard about bee attacks on T. V., but never thought they'd have to confront them.
"[They're] pretty mean. You have to respect those little animals," Lopez said laughing.
Firefighters said the bees returned to the backyard, where an exterminator will have to remove them.
Brisles was treated at the scene and told to call 911 if he starts feeling sick later in the day. (Bart Bedsole, KRIS-TV 6, 9/18/09.)
BEES ATTACK LAWN WORKERS, FIREFIGHTER
HARKER HEIGHTS TX --- Dozens of bees attacked two men and a firefighter at a Harker Heights apartment complex Thursday.
The bees stung Eddie Perez and his co-worker anywhere from 15 to 30 times apiece around 3 p.m., Perez said.
Harker Heights paramedics treated the men at the scene near the intersection of Harley and Mockingbird lanes. The bees also stung a firefighter several times underneath his protective mask as he tried to kill them. All three men recovered quickly, with the bees leaving only small sting marks.
"A lot of people get stung and they'll swell up. Maybe I'm from another planet," Perez joked about not having an allergic reaction.
The bees attacked Perez when he bumped a tree with his lawn mower. Perez' co-worker rushed to help him, but the bees also stung him. Perez estimated at least 50 bees attacked him.
"I tried to get them off. Just too many," he said.
Harker Heights firefighters suffocated the bees in what looked like a white Christmas, drenching the large tree where the bees nested with white foam. The firefighting foam suffocated the bees since they breathe through their skin, Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Gallenstein said.
The foam killed most, but not all of the bees. Firefighters suspect the nest lurks in between the walls of the apartment complex. Gallenstein said a pest control professional will be needed. Firefighters planned to contact the complex owner.
Gallenstein doubted the bees were Africanized bees, known for killer attacks, because they did not show persistent aggression. The bees would have to be tested in a lab to determine the type, he said.
No matter the types of bees, Gallenstein urged residents to avoid them.
"Stay from them. Call pest control. Get away from them and they should be able to handle them," he said. (Victor O'Brien, Killeen Daily Herald, 9/18/09.)
BEES STING MAN MORE THAN 200 TIMES
Man Driving Tractor-Trailer Unintentionally Disturbs Bee Hive
EL PASO, TX --- A bee swarm this week attacked several people in San Elizario, Texas, but one man suffered the brunt of the pain.
Fire officials and deputies said the driver of a tractor-trailer unintentionally disturbed a bee hive in the canal as he cleared it from weeds. He was stung more than 200 times, reported KFOX-TV in El Paso.
Justin Otton, 35, who is employed by the El Paso County Water Improvement District, was clearing the weeds along the canal that runs parallel with Camino De La Rosa when he was attacked by the swarm of bees, deputies said.
The bees were able to attack Otton because his windows were down while he was operating a tractor. They entered the driver compartment and began stinging him.
Trying to get away from the bees, Otton ran into the street.
"One vehicle, we're not sure why they stopped. We assume they were trying to help the driver of the bulldozer," said Anthony Lopez, a firefighter with the San Elizario Volunteer Fire Department. "They were chased off by the bees; they couldn't get back in their vehicle."
Otton took himself to the hospital while Martin Chavez, 43, and Josue Chavez, 18, were treated at the scene by Life Ambulance.
Hospital staff told deputies they estimated Otton had been stung about 200 to 300 times in the head, neck, face and hands. He remains in stable condition.
One bee sting isn't that bad unless you're allergic," Lopez said. "If you have an allergic reaction, the body starts to overcompensate for the poison that is introduced into the system and you begin to go into what we call anaphylactic shock, which can be positively fatal."
The bees were exterminated because they were creating a public hazard. Firefighters used foam to disperse the bees.
Experts said it is
not a good idea to swat bees away. Instead, move away from them quickly
to avoid an attack. Allergic reactions to bees and other stinging insects
are responsible for at least 100 deaths a year in the United States, according
to WebMD. (WISN-TV 12 News, 9/18/09.)
LESSON FROM FATAL BEE ATTACK: RUN, DON'T
SWAT
Man, 81, killed by swarm while mowing his yard in Tivoli
TIVOLI, TX --- A previously hidden colony of bees killed a Tivoli man Tuesday in an attack seemingly culled from a horror movie or nightmare.
But honey bees typically aren't inclined to aggression and won't sting under most circumstances, experts say. Fatal attacks by bees are rare - with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recording about 100 a year.
"They attack if they're trying to protect their hive," said Roy Parker, entomologist with the cooperative extension office in Corpus Christi.
"That's the only time they're aggressive."
Amador Villarreal, 81, was mowing the lawn across the street from his Scott Street house when the bees attacked.
Bees feel vibrations from lawn mowers and can perceive them as a threat, said Jerry Gray, an extension agent for Refugio County.
"That will cause the defense mechanism to kick in and the colony to take action," Gray said.
When bees - whether Africanized or European - are gathering food or swarming, they won't sting.
Swarming is the correct term used for bees traveling in a pack to find a new home, not attacking bees, Parker said.
Once a riled bee does sting, it sends out pheromones that put others on the attack, Parker said.
If bees begin attacking the best thing to do is run, Gray said.
Try to run to an enclosure like a car or building, Parker said. Some bees will follow, but the others will be locked out.
Parker, who has kept bees, talks affectionately about the insects, though he said he lacks the single-minded devotion of some enthusiasts. Having managed hives in a town is one of the best ways to control the more aggressive Africanized bees, he said.
When those bees take over managed hives, the keeper can tell, Parker said.
Keepers mark their queens with paint, so it's evident when they've been replaced.
"The colony becomes what most keepers call mean," he said.
The beekeeper lets the Africanized workers keep the hive alive while he plots to usurp the queen, Parker said. The beekeeper kills the unwanted queen. Then he introduces the new queen - wrapped in a candy enclosure to help gain the loyalty of her subjects as they eat through it to meet her.
These managed colonies compete with the Africanized bees for real estate, Parker said, thus limiting their numbers.
Though it takes lab analysis to identify bees by species, Parker said the bees that attacked Villarreal were likely Africanized honey bees.
For centuries, European bees were selected and bred for traits including passivity. But these bees didn't thrive in tropical climates, Parker said, so African bees were shipped to Brazil in the 1950s.
"They had not been selected for centuries like that, they exhibited those wild traits," Parker said. The first Africanized bees entered the United States in the 1990s, he said.
Fatal bee attacks are rare because it takes about 1,200 stings to threaten the average adult's life, Parker said. Hives can have hundreds or thousands of bees, and Africanized hives are usually smaller.
As few as one or two stings can kill people who are hyper sensitive, Parker said.
"The thing to do is run," Parker said again. "Do not fool around and try to swat the bees." (Leslie Wilber, Victoria Advocate, 9/17/09.)
MAN STUNG ABOUT 300 TIMES BY BEES IN SAN ELIZARIO
SAN ELIZARIO, TX --- A man is in stable condition today after being stung about 300 times by a swarm of bees in San Elizario, Sheriff's officials said.
Justin Otton, 35, was clearing weeds along the canal that runs parallel with Camino De La Rosa when he was attacked by the bees. Otton, who works for the El Paso County Water Improvement District, was operating a tractor with the windows down when the swarm of bees entered the driver's compartment.
When Sheriff's Deputies arrived, a friend had already taken Otton to a hospital. Martin Chavez, 43, and Josue Chavez, 18, were treated at the scene for bee stings. The San Elizario and Socorro Fire Departments arrived and subdued the bees with foam. (Jay Koester, El Paso Times, 9/16/09.)
TIVOLI MAN DIES AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY
BEES WHILE MOWING
TIVOLI, TX ---- Bees swarmed and killed an 81-year-old man while he was mowing the lawn of an abandoned house Tuesday.
Lifelong Tivoli resident Amador Villarreal died about 3:30 p.m. after being stung several times on his head and upper body, Justice of the Peace Lorraine Lopez said.
Villarreal was mowing an abandoned lot across the street from his home. A woman saw Villarreal running across the street, holding something over his head, and she told her mother, Maria Bravo.
When Bravo checked on Villarreal, bees began attacking her, stinging her about 10 times.
"I had to take my shirt off in the garage," said Bravo, a Tivoli resident who was visiting Villarreal's neighbors during the attack. "I could feel them in my hair. It felt nasty."
Bravo called 911.
Villarreal, who lived alone, was pronounced dead inside an ambulance parked in front of his home at 302 Scott St. Lopez had planned to visit Villarreal on Tuesday, before she was called to perform the inquest.
Villarreal was the proud owner of a 1929 Model T Ford, Lopez said, and they rode in the truck during a March parade. Lopez just had prints made of the photographs and planned to bring them to Villarreal.
"He was so happy in that parade," she said.
Villarreal was a well-known Tivoli character, Bravo said.
"He was a friend to everybody," although he was a quiet man, she said.
Hours after Villarreal died, bees still buzzed near his home. Refugio Sheriff Robert Bolcik said a crew was on the way to kill the Africanized bees.
Africanized bees - sometimes called killer bees - are often more aggressive than European honey bees, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The bees' hive seemed to be inside the eave of a house that was abandoned when its owner died about three years ago, Bolcik said.
Neighbor Harvey Wise said he never noticed bees around the boarded up house. Bravo said she has seen groups of bees around the area a few times.
The Refugio County Sheriff's Office has four recorded Africanized bee swarms in the past year and a half, Bolcik said. Once, a dog was killed, but no people were attacked in that time, Bolcik said.
Deputies and medics were stung while working at the scene Bolcik said.
As family, friends and neighbors gathered Tuesday, emergency workers tried to keep them away from the still-agitated bees.
"He was a wonderful man," Lopez said. "I called him a friend." (Leslie Wilber, Victoria Advocate, Originally published 9/15/09, updated 9/16/09.)
UNDERSTANDING BEES
TIVOLI, TX ---- Residents on Scott Street in Tivoli noticed one of their neighbors running from his riding lawn mover as bees from an abandoned home across the street attacked the elderly man Tuesday afternoon.
STEPS TO AVOID BEE ATTACK
If you see a hive near your home that's likely to be disrupted, call an exterminator, said entomologist Roy Parker.
Exterminators exploit the bees sticky bodies and social nature and use slow-acting poison powders to kill them, said Jim Koenig, owner of Bugmobiles Pest and Termite Control.
Don't swat at bees, Parker said. They're not usually aggressive. Swatting will aggravate them more.
When bees sting, they send out pheromones that signal the rest of the hive to attack, Parker said. If you're stung by a bee near a hive leave the area, he said.
Look around for hives before beginning work in outside areas, extension agent Jerry Gray said.
If bees attack, run, Parker said. Try to get inside a building or vehicle.
A previously hidden colony of bees killed a Tivoli man Tuesday in an attack seemingly culled from a horror movie or nightmare. But honey bees typically aren't inclined to aggression and won't sting under most circumstances, experts say. Fatal attacks by bees are rare - with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recording about 100 a year.
"They attack if they're trying to protect their hive," said Roy Parker, entomologist with the cooperative extension office in Corpus Christi.
"That's the only time they're aggressive."
Amador Villarreal, 81, was mowing the lawn across the street from his Scott Street house when the bees attacked.
Bees feel vibrations from lawn mowers and can perceive them as a threat, said Jerry Gray, an extension agent for Refugio County.
"That will cause the defense mechanism to kick in and the colony to take action," Gray said.
When bees - whether Africanized or European - are gathering food or swarming, they won't sting.
Swarming is the correct term used for bees traveling in a pack to find a new home, not attacking bees, Parker said.
Once a riled bee does sting, it sends out pheromones that put others on the attack, Parker said.
If bees begin attacking the best thing to do is run, Gray said.
Try to run to an enclosure like a car or building, Parker said. Some bees will follow, but the others will be locked out.
Parker, who has kept bees, talks affectionately about the insects, though he said he lacks the single-minded devotion of some enthusiasts. Having managed hives in a town is one of the best ways to control the more aggressive Africanized bees, he said.
When those bees take over managed hives, the keeper can tell, Parker said.
Keepers mark their queens with paint, so it's evident when they've been replaced.
"The colony becomes what most keepers call mean," he said.
The beekeeper lets the Africanized workers keep the hive alive while he plots to usurp the queen, Parker said. The beekeeper kills the unwanted queen. Then he introduces the new queen - wrapped in a candy enclosure to help gain the loyalty of her subjects as they eat through it to meet her.
These managed colonies compete with the Africanized bees for real estate, Parker said, thus limiting their numbers.
Though it takes lab analysis to identify bees by species, Parker said the bees that attacked Villarreal were likely Africanized honey bees.
For centuries, European bees were selected and bred for traits including passivity. But these bees didn't thrive in tropical climates, Parker said, so African bees were shipped to Brazil in the 1950s.
"They had not been selected for centuries like that, they exhibited those wild traits," Parker said. The first Africanized bees entered the United States in the 1990s, he said.
Fatal bee attacks are rare because it takes about 1,200 stings to threaten the average adult's life, Parker said. Hives can have hundreds or thousands of bees, and Africanized hives are usually smaller.
As few as one or two stings can kill people who are hyper sensitive, Parker said.
"The thing to do is run," Parker said again. "Do not fool around and try to swat the bees." (Leslie Wilber, Victoria Advocate 9/16/09.)
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