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A construction worker that was clearing land for a development near Thunderbird Road and the Loop 101 in Peoria, Az., unearthed a bee hive, which resulted in the man being sent to the hospital from over
500 bee stings. The man is in serious condition.
According to Peoria Fire Capt. Bob Groholski,
"This was as serious as it gets. He was covered with bees, unable to get back to his feet."
Believe it or not, the man was lucky because Groholski estimates that the number of bees were in the thousands based on the size of the hives that crews later found.
In October, there was another attack in Glendale, AZ, where over
100,000 bees attacked four children, a babysitter and a beekeeper, in a valley neighborhood.
The babysitter and one of the children were rushed to the hospital in that case, both recovered from that attack.
Over the
past two weeks, swarms of bees have attacked two people in Tempe and killed two dogs in Gilbert.
A couple was attacked Wednesday at Hangar Park in Tempe by bees that had been inside a garbage can they opened at the park. The man was stung more than 100 times and transported to a hospital in serious condition. The woman was also stung and went to the hospital with minor injuries.
On Feb. 19 in Gilbert, two dogs were killed and several members of a family stung when a swarm of bees attacked them in their yard.
A worker from the Arizona Exterminating Company, Dan Armijo, says there has been an increase in bee calls and that most bees are not aggressive unless they are Africanized bees aka killer bees.
He says that Africanized bees are far more aggressive than honey bees which are more common and the Africanized will attack if disturbed or if it feels its colony is being threatened.
Confusing the issue a little more, he also says that there is no way to tell the two types of bees apart.
The University of Arizona provides
some facts and safety tips about bees.
