Large Swarm of Bees Attacks Family in Beeville, Texas

HowToBe

The Living Force
Found this today. Oddly enough, the swarm was in Beeville, in Bee County, Texas. :huh:

_http://www.kiiitv.com/story/25656043/large-swarm-of-bees-attacks-family-in-beeville

BEEVILLE (Kiii News) - Hundreds of bees went on attack Friday morning, terrorizing one Beeville family and sending a man to the hospital emergency room.

The bee attack happening behind Cantu's Welding on Business 181. A man was clearing out some brush on his tractor when the swarm attacked him, his son and his grandson. The oldest of the three is allergic to bees and got the worst of it.

15 firefighters and nine police officers had to be called to the scene for a life-saving mission.

"We started with a garden hose. My dad said turn on the garden hose, and they were all over my face," Richard Cantu said. "I couldn't find the garden hose because I mean, I just took my glasses off and I couldn't see and we finally got it, and that's when I called 911. They were too out of control. There was just too many of them."

"This is the largest bee swarm I have ever seen, with the most injuries, and there's a lot of animals," Beeville Police Sergeant Greg Baron said. "There's a couple dogs, there's even a cow back there, all of them seem to be in a pretty good amount of pain."

Fortunately, everyone is expected to be okay.
 
Several reports of bee's attacking in the last two month's, in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.

Two Horses Euthanized After Bee Attack
_http://krwg.org/post/two-horses-euthanized-after-bee-attack

Friday June 13, 2014 - Abilene, West Texas -Two horses had to be euthanized after being swarmed by bees in West Texas.

The owner of one of the horses told KTXS-TV in Abilene that the stinging bees completely covered the animals and there was nothing he could do to save them.

Heath Watson says he was at home near Eula (YOO'-luh) on Friday and tied up his horse and a neighbor's horse when the bees swarmed the animals. Watson was also attacked but ran into his house.

Watson said Monday he even tried to save the horses by bumping them, including an attempt to move the animals with his truck and out a gate but there were too many bees.

The Callahan County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday said both horses had to be euthanized.

Deadly bee attack worries dog owners
_http://abc13.com/pets/deadly-bee-attack-worries-dog-owners/117312/

Sunday June 15, 2014 - Katy, Texas - A weekend bee attack that killed three dogs has homeowners across our area wondering how to keep the threat out of their yards. The dogs died in the backyard of their Wood Creek Estates home in Katy. Authorities say the dogs were stung hundreds of times.

Mountain trail shuts down after bee attack
_http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/Mountain-trail-shuts-down-after-bee-attack-262976971.html

Thursday June 12, 2014 - Las Vegas, Nevada - A Lone Mountain hiking trail has been closed down due to a bee attack.

The attack sent five people to the hospital Thursday around 7:45 p.m.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue confirmed the victims were stung by wild bees and suffered minor injuries.

LVFR said wild bees are sometimes hard to spot because they build their hives in desert plants. They could have become agitated from a fragrance or a stomp to the ground.

They swarmed out and stung the victims.

LVFR has been called to this location in the past.

Elderly Plantation woman stung multiple times by bees, authorities say
_http://www.local10.com/news/elderly-plantation-woman-stung-multiple-times-by-bees-authorities-say/26313912

Tuesday June 3, 2014 - PLANTATION, Fla. - A woman in her 90s was taken to the hospital after being stung multiple times by bees, authorities said.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon at 1420 West Campanelli Drive in Plantation.

At first police believed neighbors who came to help her were also stung, according to Plantation Fire Rescue. This was later found not true.

Fire crews were at the home using foam and water to take down the hive.

A witness said he walked outside to see his neighbor on the ground surrounded by bees.

She was responsive and taken to the hospital for treatment.

Swarm of bees kill dog in northeast Houston neighborhood
_http://www.khou.com/news/local/Swarm-of-bees-kill-dog-in-northeast-Houston-261171841.html

Thursday May 29, 2014 - HOUSTON, Texas -- A swarm of bees nesting in an abandoned home killed a dog and stung the animal's owner.

Felipe Mendoza says he came outside to find his dogs being attacked by the insects. He was able to save one dog, but the other died from hundreds of stings.

Mendoza, who is 77, was taken to the hospital as a precaution after he was stung by one of the insects.

The bees built a large nest inside a neighboring vacant home in the 900 block of 66th Street.

"I'd say it's pretty dangerous," said Mendoza's niece, Arlene Almazan. "They kind of follow you and attack."

The Houston Department of Neighborhoods sent out an inspector who called an exterminator to destroy the nest.

Normally, city officials have to wait for an owner's permission or for a public hearing to go into a building. They determined the bees were an imminent threat and called in someone to take care of the problem.

The exterminator plans to come back out Friday to make sure the insects are dead.

Bees attack several people at northwest home
_http://www.kvoa.com/news/bees-attack-several-people-at-northwest-home/

Saturday May 24, 2014 - Tucson, Arizona - TUCSON - Several people were stung by bees at a home on the northwest side Saturday afternoon.

Northwest Fire responded to the 3600 block of West Apricot Drive, near Orange Grove and Thornydale.

Captain Adam Goldberg says no one needed to be transported to the hospital.

Beekeepers have been called to remove the bees from the home.

The house has been blocked off until the bees could be removed.

Waco Bee Attack Leaves Two Dogs Dead
_http://www.kwtx.com/news/local/headlines/Bees-Kill-Two-Dogs-In-Waco-Neighborhood-259827901.html

Monday May 19, 2014 - Waco, Texas - Three dogs were stung, two were killed Monday afternoon after a large hive containing as many 200,000 to 300,000 bees in a shed behind a South Waco house was disturbed and the angry bees swarmed the neighborhood.

The bees are likely to remain active in the area for a week or more, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

Police, firefighters, animal control officers and a couple of beekeepers were at the house at South 25th Street and Baylor Avenue just after 1 p.m. Monday trying to gather up the angry bees so they could be trapped and moved away, Swanton said.

The bees were in a hive inside a shed behind a house in the 2400 block of Baylor Avenue, Swanton said.

In order to reach the hive, a wall must be torn down, he said.

It appears the hive has been there for more than a year, he said.

The street was closed in the area of the swarm, but was reopened to traffic just before 2 p.m. Monday.

15 stung, woman hospitalized in Phoenix bee attack
_http://www.azfamily.com/news/15-stung-woman-hospitalized-in-Phoenix-bee-attack-259328351.html

Wednesday May 14, 2014 - Phoenix, Arizona - At least 15 people were stung and one woman was taken to a hospital after a bee attack Wednesday night, according to Phoenix firefighters.

It happened in a neighborhood near 12th Street and McDowell Road.

A beekeeper was reportedly trying to introduce a couple of new queen bees to the hives in her backyard when the bees revolted and chased people down the street.

Firefighters told 3TV the buzzing was so loud, they couldn't hear each other.

They were wiping layers of bees off the masks of their white bee suits until they finally found and wiped out the hives. They said they had never seen anything like it.

The woman who was taken to the hospital was reportedly stung about a dozen times but is expected to be OK.

Firefighters said none of the people stung were severely allergic.

Hikers stable after attacked by bees on west side
_http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/25480216/hikers-stable-after-attacked-by-bees-on-west-side

Friday May 9, 2014 - Tucson, Arizona - Fire crews responded to Silverbell and Twin Peaks where two 18-year-old hikers were stung by bees an unknown amount of times.

One of the two men is allergic and without medication, but they are both in stable condition, according the Northwest Fire District Capt. Adam Goldberg.
 
A report from South Philadelphia and another, in Texas.

Bees swarm homes in South Philadelphia
_http://6abc.com/news/bees-swarm-homes-in-south-philadelphia/127619/

Friday, June 20, 2014 SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A swarm of more than 1,000 bees terrorized a South Philadelphia neighborhood.
Neighbors were not too happy with their unwelcome visitors in the 2200 block of Mifflin Street. The swarm blanketed the doorway areas of two homes.

On Friday night, neighbors tell Action News a beekeeper finally came to the rescue and retrieved the nearly 1,300 bees. The beekeeper said that there must be a colony nearby.


Officer: 'Blanket of bees' killed police dog
_http://www.8newsnow.com/story/25813375/metro-officer-talks-about-bee-attack-that-killed-police-dog

Wednesday June 18, 2014 - LAS VEGAS -- The Metro Police officer who lost one of the police dogs he handles in a bee attack spoke out Wednesday about what happened Tuesday morning.

Ofc. Mel English was stung at least 30 times as he tried to rescue police dog Mickey from a swarm of bees. Mickey received more than 100 stings and died from the injuries.

According to English, Mickey was in the backyard kennel with three other dogs, Roy, Rocky and Kai. English says he heard the dogs barking and when he looked outside to see what was wrong, he found hundreds of bees swarming over the dogs.

"I noticed Roy was running up and down the kennel scraping himself and Mickey was flicking his head and that's when I realized there was a small black cloud over the kennels," English said.

English raced outside, rescuing the dogs one by one. He started with the active officers, Roy and Rocky. He went back for Kai and Mickey.

The other dogs survived their injuries, but unfortunately, the stings were too much for Mickey.

"My best friend in my world is my wife. I actually saw Mickey more than her. You figure 40 hours a week in the truck and then the time you spend with them at home, they are your life," Ofc. English said.

English used his arm to scrape a blanket of bees off Mickey, while his three kids helped to fight the bees off of his body.

Mickey was 9 years old and had just retired in March. Ofc. English says Mickey kept him out of a very dangerous situation.

"He kept me from being in a shooting and kept the suspect from being able to engage me in the process," he said.

Kai and Rocky are expected to be okay. Roy is still being held for observation. In fact, English and Rocky will be out at the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.
 
HowToBe said:
Found this today. Oddly enough, the swarm was in Beeville, in Bee County, Texas. :huh:

_http://www.kiiitv.com/story/25656043/large-swarm-of-bees-attacks-family-in-beeville

BEEVILLE (Kiii News) - Hundreds of bees went on attack Friday morning, terrorizing one Beeville family and sending a man to the hospital emergency room.

The bee attack happening behind Cantu's Welding on Business 181. A man was clearing out some brush on his tractor when the swarm attacked him, his son and his grandson. The oldest of the three is allergic to bees and got the worst of it.

15 firefighters and nine police officers had to be called to the scene for a life-saving mission.

"We started with a garden hose. My dad said turn on the garden hose, and they were all over my face," Richard Cantu said. "I couldn't find the garden hose because I mean, I just took my glasses off and I couldn't see and we finally got it, and that's when I called 911. They were too out of control. There was just too many of them."

"This is the largest bee swarm I have ever seen, with the most injuries, and there's a lot of animals," Beeville Police Sergeant Greg Baron said. "There's a couple dogs, there's even a cow back there, all of them seem to be in a pretty good amount of pain."

Fortunately, everyone is expected to be okay.

Thanks for the article "HowToBEE" ;D

On a serious note, it's quite disturbing...

angelburst, great job finding all those articles as well. It appears as if nature is "fighting" back somewhat. Hmm...

Sadly, I fear this will lead to more spraying and killing of wild colonies in order to protect humans. Bee populations are already decimated, this could end tragically if this keeps up, OSIT.
 
Here's some more information on bee swarms: _http://saulcreekapiary.com/when_honey_bees_swarm.htm

The following is not only for Beekeepers both new and seasoned but also for home and or property owners that find themselves faced with several thousand uninvited insects known as Honey Bees. For those of us living anywhere from Florida through Texas to California we live in what is known as Africanized Honey Bee Infected States. This makes removing Swarms or removing established Colonies a little bit different than someone that lives further North in non Africanized infected States. For home and property owners this can be a very dangerous situation as Africanized Honey Bees are extremely unpredictable. Swarms such as the ones pictured above can seem extremely docile allowing the curious home owner to get very close without so much as a fly by and give Beekeepers the courage to work with little or no protective gear. The problems start when the Bees take up residence in either a wall, shed or other shelter that the Bees feel will make a good home or when the Beekeeper that removed the Swarm introduces the colony into a hive body and the colony establishes a Brood Chamber where the Queen can start laying eggs. With eggs being laid, the Colony now switches into defensive mode and will protect the hive with their lives sending out hundreds if not thousands of Bees to insure that the Colony lives on. Africanized Honey Bees are also known to throw small swarms such as the one in the picture above which insures that the Africanized Genes live on. These swarms can even over take weak or small weak managed Colonies therefore turning them into Africanized Colonies as the Africanized Queen starts laying eggs. Unfortunately most Beekeepers are not equipped to handle Africanized Honey Bees and can get deep in trouble very quickly. For those Beekeepers that wear protective suits, most are only rated as "Sting Resistant" and not "Sting Proof". Sting resistant means that Bees can if determined sting through the material. Sting Resistant Suits provide little to no protection from an Africanized Bee attack. If your a Beekeeper removing Swarms or established Colonies, make a plan on how you will deal with an Africanized Colony well before you become committed with the removal. Purchase a quality "Sting Proof" suit and be prepared to deal with aggressive Bees should the need arise, your life and others may depend on it!

Swarms: Swarms such as the ones pictured above are merely Colonies that are in transition. Normally these Swarms are found hanging from tree limbs, fence post or any place where the swarm can gather close to the Queen while scouts are sent out to look for a more permanent home. If left alone these swarms will only be in place from just a few minutes to a few hours and will disappear just a quick as they arrived. Generally these swarms are very docile and the swarming Bees usually will not sting. When Honey Bees swarm they gorge themselves with honey before leaving the hive which makes it very hard for them to double over and sting.

What Causes Honey Bees to Swarm: There is a variety of reasons why Bees will Swarm. The most common is poor hive management which includes crowding, disease and a lack of hive maintenance. Honey Bees also have a natural instinct to survive by sending out new colonies, this can often times be stopped by removing Queen cells when doing deep/full inspections. Honey Bees usually swarm in early spring just as the colony is building up it's numbers in anticipation of the upcoming honey flow but swarming can happen through late summer and depending on the weather in early fall if hive conditions are extremely poor. Late season swarms almost never fair well over winter and often times are better off being combined with an existing colony after the swarms Queen has been removed. The danger in doing this is that if the swarm has any disease they will pass it on to the host hive.

Indications a Colony may be getting ready to swarm: Some indications that a hive is getting ready to swarm is large numbers of Bees hanging in a clump around the entrance of the hive with other Bees flying aimlessly around the hive. The hive entrance may be blocked with Bees scrambling to get out and no or few workers will be seen returning to the hive from the field. On some occasions when the colony is extremely confused just before swarming one can observe what looks like a cloud of Bees leave the hive flying a few to several yards away them return to the hive and re-enter, this is often a prelude to a large swarming event. Often times when this behavior is observed in order to make the Bees think they have swarmed the Bees can be removed from the hive and shaken out a few yards away which simulates the hive having swarmed. The Bees will then return to the hive and if everything goes the Beekeepers way the colony will remain in the hive. If any of the conditions above are observed it's a good idea to do a deep inspection and look for Queen Cells. Any Queen cells that are found can be either destroyed or the frame with the queen cell can be removed and placed in a Nucleus hive along with a healthy quantity of workers. Frames of honey and pollen to start a new colony should also be added (see Hive Splitting). Extra equipment should always be kept ready to capture a swarm in the apiary should the need arise. Captured swarms from the Beekeepers own apiary can be considered safe and added to the apiary to increase numbers or given to someone that is interested in getting into Beekeeping.

Note: Bees first flight - New Beekeepers often times confuse swarming with young bees first flight. Young Bees take flight after the first week to ten days of emerging from their cell. Often times one can observe a few to a hundred or so new Bees taking first flight as the colony numbers increase. The big difference between the first flights and swarming is worker Bees will still be seen coming and going from the hive and clumping will not be present even though large numbers may be seen at the entrance of the hive.

Preventing Swarming: Preventing swarming is sometimes easier said than done. Even seasoned Beekeepers loose colonies from time to time due to the time of year when swarming generally takes place. For the Beekeeper spring is an extremely busy time of year and for those with larger numbers of hives checking each and every one for Queen Cells can be a daunting task. One of the worst things a new Beekeeper can do is over inspect a hive. Every time the hive is opened, the colony is set back days or even weeks from damage done to comb and smoking the hive before entering. Bees are not pets, they do not have names, they do not know who you are and most likely they do not even like you. If you had someone taking the roof off your house every few days you wouldn't stick around long either. Keep the inspections to a minimum. Learn to read what the Bees are doing from examining the entrance away from the flight path. Allot can be learned from observation.

Learning the signs of potential swarming:

Crowding: Probably the number one cause of swarming. Upon observation Bees will be crowding around the entrance, fanning their wings. Adding an additional Brood Chamber (Deep) may help to advert swarming by easing the crowding.

Disease/ Infestations: Mites, Small Hive Beetles (SHB), as well as common Honey Bee diseases can cause Bees to leave the hive (abscond). (Add to this whatever is causing Colony Collapse Disorder, i.e. EMF, GMO's)

Location: Hives in full sun in the South may help with SHB control but may also cause the colony to leave due to extreme high temps within the hive.

Dilapidated Hive Bodies: (woodenware) There's nothing worse in my book than seeing a dilapidated hive. Bees also do not thrive in dilapidated hives as moisture, mold and fungus become a major problem. Rotting woodenware can cause a colony to leave if conditions are poor.

We will be adding pictures as well as additional information as time goes on, feel free to email us with any questions or comments you may have. We hope the information we have provided may be of some use to you and your Bees.

Thank you for visiting and most of all Good Luck with your Beekeeping.

Saul Creek Apiary

So maybe all of these reports of swarms of bees attacking can be linked to earth changes or the bees tolerance for perceived agitation could be lower due to GMO's, EMF's. Or maybe, since spring is the time for swarming, there are increased chances for people to be attacked.
 
To add a peculiar twist to this, at the same time I found the first article, there was another article in the side links about some truck full of bees that overturned. Maybe this is about the same event:

_http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2014/05/20/truck-carrying-bees-overturns-on-95-on-ramp/9348173/
The ramp from northbound Del. 896 to northbound I-95 near Newark reopened about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday, more than 12 hours after it was closed when a tractor-trailer crashed and released its cargo of live bees -- an estimated 16 to 20 million of them.
State police cited the driver, Adolpho Guerra, 55, of Miami, Florida, with having an unsafe load. Guerra suffered 50-100 bee stings and was treated at Christiana Hospital for what Sgt. Paul Shavack called minor injuries. Two passengers also were taken to the hospital for treatment of bee stings.
 
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