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The Latest news from Florida:
TAMPA MAN CUTTING LAWN STUNG OVER 100 TIMES BY BEES
TAMPA, FL --- The two young paramedics called out to a man covered in bees Friday morning, asking him to come closer to their ambulance and hoping all the bees wouldn't.
"They were swarming," said Sophia Cardenas, a firefighter with Tampa Fire Rescue. "He had a look of desperation on his face."
The 47-year-old man had been cutting grass at 1224 E Park Circle just before 11 a.m. when the bees attacked and stung him more than 100 times, according to Fire Rescue. Authorities did not release his name.
Cardenas, 22, said the man was shirtless and wearing jeans, so the bees blanketed his chest, arms, neck, face and even wriggled their way into his chin-length hair.
She and her fellow paramedic, Justin Thompson, were the first to arrive to the call of a bee attack, and threw on their fire coats and hoods before they approached. Thompson told the man to walk away from the bees and get on the other side of the ambulance.
"It took about three minutes to beat the bees off him with the towels," Cardenas said.
An engine arrived shortly after and crews rushed the man to St. Joseph's Hospital, where workers counted more than 100 bee stings on his body.
It was an interesting ride, since neither paramedic was particularly fond of bees.
"I was stung twice - in the face," Cardenas said.
Thompson, 27, said some of the bees hiding in the man's hair came out en route to the hospital, so they were killing bees along the way.
"We put him in a D-Con shower and then the hospital began his treatment," Thompson said.
The man didn't appear to have an allergy and was in stable condition, Cardenas said.
Both Fire Rescue members said this was their first experience with bees on this scale.
"It looked like he was covered in whiteheads," Cardenas said.
Hours later back at 1224 E Park Circle, the front yard stood unmowed, covered in brown leaves as a man sprayed insecticide into bushes and trees lining the front of the single story house that sits more than 100 feet off the street.
A piece of the roof had been ripped off the front of the home to reveal what was once the nest of the dangerous swarm.
"I don't like (bees)," Cardenas said. "When you have a patient that needs help, that's not an issue." (Robbyn Mitchell, St Petersburg Times, 5/29/10.)
SWARM OF BEES ATTACKS TAMPA MAN, PARAMEDICS SAY
TAMPA, FL --- They were trained to wait for the fire hoses before confronting a swarm.
But when two Tampa Fire Rescue paramedics arrived at the home and saw a man writhing on the ground covered in bees, they knew they couldn't delay.
"The guy could see us," said Justin Thompson, one of the paramedics. "I couldn't imagine just sitting there waiting for backup."
Neither relished the idea of wading in among the swarm, but they swallowed their fear.
"He had a look of desperation and he needed our help," said Sophia Cardenas, the other firefighter.
The pair donned their heavy "bunker" coats, covered their heads with fireproof hoods and went to get the 47-year-old. They battled for about three minutes, using towels and the hoods to beat off the bees before reaching the safety of their vehicle.
The man, who was cutting the lawn at 1224 E. Park Circle at about 11 a.m., was stung more than 100 times.
He was released after being treated at St. Joseph Hospital. He hasn't been identified.
Cardenas was stung twice in the face. Thompson avoided the stingers.
"I don't like bees but when you have a patient that needs your help, it's not an issue," Cardenas said.
She said the bee was identified as an Africanized "killer" bee.
The hive was apparently built inside a rotten soffit in the front of the home. Hours later it was removed. The smell of insecticide permeated the yard. The driveway was littered with crushed honeycomb and dead bees.
Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said each class at the agency's academy is shown a film about Africanized bees and told to use hoses to douse the bees away.
However, Wade had no problems with Thompson and Cardenas ignoring the advice."They didn't have that option," he said. "They used what was available and brought the man to safety." (By Tom Brennan, The Tampa Tribune, 5/28/10.)
RENTER STUNG 140 TIMES INSIDE BEE-INFESTED HOME
FORT MYERS, FL --- Bees were found between the floors, in the windowsills and even pouring out of the walls of a Fort Myers home. And now, two people are in the hospital after being stung hundreds of times.
It happened in a house on a dead-end street in the Tice area of Fort Myers.
"We get stung so much, our animals get stung and our friends can't come outside. It's dangerous," said renter BethAnne Sedore.
Since the renters moved in four months ago, they've been living with dangerous neighbors - thousands of them.
"Right here on my hands and foot lying in bed, I was stung," said renter Wanda Curtis.
Even the babies living there have sting scars. The property manager tried to fix the problem a while back with a foam, but only moved the danger closer.
"It's in our ceilings, our floors, in the walls - dangerous," said Sedore.
Beekeeper Keith Councell got the call Thursday night after a bee attack left one woman stung more than 140 times.
"It's frustrating because this is a simple situation to have remedied before all this happened," he said.
He said his calls to the property manager, AAA Renters, were ignored. He even said he is willing to fix this problem for free. Though it's a big job, he says it's needed.
"We don't need someone getting killed by bees and that's what could have happened here," said Councell. (Katie LaGrone, WZVN-TV 7 News, 5/7/10.)
MAN TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER BEE ATTACK
THE ACREAGE, FL --- A 76-year-old Acreage man was hospitalized after being stung by a swarm of bees outside his home this morning.
Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Chief Steve Delai said that the man had sustained numerous bee stings upon the of arrival of rescue crews.
The injured man is Royston Osbourne of the 12300 block of 70th Place North, his wife Yvonne said.
Osbourne was taken to the hospital in serious condition, but Yvonne said tonight that his condition has improved to stable.
"The doctors said if it had been a few minutes more (it could have been more serious)," she said, speaking by phone from Palms West Hospital, where her husband was transported this morning.
Yvonne said that Royston was outside their home about 10:30 a.m., when he was attacked by the bee swarm. She said she was able to drag him inside, but he lost consciousness before paramedics arrived. Paramedics were able to revive and stabilize him before transporting him to the emergency room, Yvonne said.
"He was in the yard," she said. "He was outside and I don't know what made me go out there....I heard the scream and when I saw what was happening, I ran down there."
Yvonne, 66, also suffered and was treated for some bee stings. But she said her injuries weren't as severe and she was able to drive herself to the hospital. (Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 4/9/10.)
BEES KILL DOG IN MIAMI GARDENS
MIAMI GARDENS, FL --- A South Florida family was mourning the loss of their dog Friday, but experts say they could've died too if the bees would have attacked them.
Brenda Williams doesn't have children, just two dogs.
"I talk about my dog everyday, everyday, and now this," Williams told CBS4's Gio Benitez.
But Friday, one of them lay dead in her front yard. Africanized bees living deep inside a tree in her backyard attacked the dog just before noon.
"I had everything done to him, and now I have to see my dog get taken out by bees? It's unbelievable," said Williams. "The bees gone wild! They really went on attack. Me, my husband, the dogs, everybody," she said.
Her husband, George, was cutting the trees. The sound of the chainsaw apparently made the bees aggressive, and in just a few minutes, he was on the run.
"They bit me everywhere. I got bites all over the place, I had to strip naked, the bees were all over me," said George.
But the killer bees completely covered the dog's head, and killed it.
"I couldn't just run out there like I'm Superman, I might have been like my dog or in the hospital," said Williams.
And she worries others in the neighborhood could have been hurt if she hadn't called expert bee remover Adrian Valero, who says he only sees Africanized bees once every three or four months.
The bees are rare, but even so, Valero says 60,000 of them were living inside the Williams tree, and he couldn't kill all of them.
For Brenda Williams, those are just numbers. What she cares about is lying lifeless in her front yard.
"This is the worst day. I've had some bad days, but this day here takes the cake. It's the worst day of my life," she said.
So what if this happens to you? Experts say, don't swat at the bees, because if you do, that'll make them even angrier. Just go inside, and call Animal Control at 305-884-1101 or 954-359-1313. (Gio Benitez, WFOR-TV 4, 3/19/10.)
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.)
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.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
STINGS NOT SO BAD, BUT AFRICANIZED BEES A WORRY
LAKELAND, FL --- For beekeepers, a bite now and then is to be expected, but invasive bees change the game.
You just might get stung working this job.
Beekeepers, otherwise known as people crazy enough to stand among as many as 100,000 bees at aplants, time, work to produce honey for our biscuits. But they also pollinate the county's orange groves and other flower-growing spurring the agricultural industry in Polk County, despite the job's risks. It's one of the most dangerous jobs in the county, making it the next installment in The Ledger's ongoing series, "Out of the Cubicle: Dangerous Jobs in Polk."
Burt Kelley, beekeeper and owner of Kelley's Apiaries in Lakeland, has hives across Polk County, he said, but doesn't think he has a dangerous job.
"If they invite me to leave, then I will leave," Kelley said about his bees. "You can only take so much until it's not fun anymore."
Kelley thinks the most dangerous aspect of his job is the risk of heat stroke. Yet, he says he has been stung at least 150 times at once.
"You got to work hard to get that," he said. "But after a certain number of stings, more doesn't make much of a difference."
Kelley said his body went into shock, but related the experience to being injured in war: "You get injured, but you just have to keep going."
Kelley says he is not worried as much by his bees as he is of the Africanized Honey Bee.
Jerry Hayes, chief of Apiary Inspection for the state of Florida's Plant Industry Division, says any colony can be taken over by the Africanized Honey Bee.
According to Hayes, the Africanized Honey Bee is an invasive bee that can take over any colony and adopt similar characteristics to the host colony. Bees communicate by chemical smell, he said, a trait the invading Africanized Honey Bee can adopt, meaning the host colony can no longer tell the difference between the home bee and the invading bee.
"Kill the existing queen and take over the reproductive operations" means a docile Honey Bee colony has been Africanized.
The Africanized Honey Bee's sting is no different from the normal Honey Bee; it is the sheer number of attackers that cause the Africanized Honey Bee to be more deadly.
Not only do their bees produce honey, but many beekeepers, including Kelley, are contracted to pollinate fruit-producing plants, such as orange trees. According to the Florida Division of Plant Industry, one-third of the food eaten in the state would not be available without the pollination provided by the Honey Bee. The division also says that for every dollar of honey produced in Florida, approximately $150 is generated in Honey Bee pollination services - an estimated $20 million yearly.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates there are as many as 211,600 beekeepers in the United States, but only 1,600 of those are thought to be commercial beekeepers. The Florida Division of Plant Industry has 1,000 registered beekeepers managing approximately 200,000 bee colonies.
Kelley said he maintains liability insurance for his apiaries in case someone gets stung.
"Just a cost of doing business," he said.
"Beekeepers have their suits and their smokers," said Hayes. "It's kind of like anything else, it just becomes a non-event after a while." (Ryan Little, The Lakeland Ledger, 8/16/09.)
BEES INFEST MIAMI-DADE FORECLOSED HOME
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL --- A Miami-Dade family is looking for answers after bees invaded their neighbor's foreclosed home, WSVN-Ch. 7 reports.
The Baldomero family hasn't been able use their back yard for months since the home on Southwest 183rd Street and 119th Avenue became infested, the news station reports.
"It's just gotten progressively worse. We've seen bees come in mounds, just more and more, and we try to spray the fence," Silvia Baldomero said.
Miami-Dade code compliance officers were called, but they say little can be done because the home is owned by a bank. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8/13/09.)
TREE FALLS ON ST. PETERSBURG STREET AND OUT COME THE BEES
ST. PETERSBURG, FL --- Firefighters were inspecting a fallen oak tree that blocked 10th Avenue N and knocked down power lines Wednesday afternoon when they suddenly found themselves outnumbered:
The tree was home to 40,000 to 60,000 Africanized bees, a.k.a killer bees.
One or two firefighters were stung but the situation was soon under control and the bee hives removed, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
The whole thing started around 12:30 p.m., authorities said, when the 40-foot tree came crashing down on a residential street near 34th Street N. The tree trunk had been weakened by termites.
But the termites had roommates: two big hives full of bees. Firefighters found that out after they blocked off the road and took a closer look at the tree.
"All of a sudden there's a huge swarm of bees," said Fire Rescue Lt. Joel Granata. "Some of the bees stung some of the firefighters on scene."
One firefighter, after being stung in the forehead, took cover in a fire engine. The angry bee then started attacking the windows, Granata said.
"Once they sting somebody the venom creates a frenzy and they keep attacking," Granata said.
So firefighters backed off, created a perimeter around the tree and told everyone on the block to stay inside.
A beekeeper began removing the honeycomb from the hives and will disperse the bees.
Power in the neighborhood has also been restored, Granata said. But firefighters advise avoiding 10th Avenue N for a while longer.
Follow This Just In on Twitter.(Jamal Thalji, St Petersburg Times, 7/22/09.)
BEES ATTACK GRASS MOWER AT ISLAND PARK IN BONITA SPRINGS
BONITA SPRINGS, FL --- Matthew Prueter didn't hear the buzz, but he felt the stings.
Prueter, a public works maintenance employee for the city of Bonita Springs, was cutting grass at the city's Island Park on July 9 when he was attacked by what are believed to be Africanized bees.
City officials think it was the first case of an Africanized bee attack in Bonita Springs. Experts say the bees, which arrived in Florida in 2000, aren't leaving and are more regularly attacking residents.
"I was circling the trees and I felt myself getting pecked on the head and face," Prueter said.
Prueter tried to get away, but couldn't. "I had no place to run. They just kept on me," he said. "I've been stung by honeybees before, but never like this. This was an all-out attack."
He ran and eventually leapt into the Rosemary Creek, dove and held his breath for as long as he could. When he resurfaced, the bees were still on him, attacking his face and head. He dove again and swam down the creek. When he surfaced, the bees were still there. He dove and swam some more. This time the bees were gone.
Prueter was stung five times in the face, three times on the head, pulled multiple stingers from his arms and one from his back.
"It was pretty wild - almost cartoon-like," he said. "When I got out of the water, I saw this ... family with a baby in a stroller getting close to where I was and told them to get away. I don't know what would have happened to them, if they got any closer."
That afternoon, the hive with about 5,000 bees was destroyed.
B. Keith Councell, president of Beekeepers of Southwest Florida, said there's really no way of telling if Prueter's attack was the work of Africanized bees. There are approximately 20,000 different varieties of bees; German black bees and even the most common European honeybee could react in a similar fashion, he said.
"The only way to tell if they were Africanized bees is to have them tested - and that could take weeks," he said. Councell, however, noted that two previous tests on bees found at Riverside Park came back positive for Africanized bees.
Chris Fenstermaker, 28, a beekeeper who manages two of his own hives as well as one at the Bonita Springs Nature Place, said the Africanized bee isn't concerned about making honey. "They're all about survival, and when they attack, it's more about defending their territory than anything else."
The big difference is that the Africanized bee is much more persistent, Fenstermaker said.
"If a European bee is provoked, it may follow you for about the length of a football field," he said. "The Africanized bee may follow you for three football fields. They just want to make sure you're no longer a threat to them."
Councell said people need to respect bees' space.
"I'm seeing a lot more attacks, but that's mostly because people are doing stupid things to hives like smacking them with two-by-fours," he said.
Also known as killer bees, the Africanized bee has been linked to one death in Florida. Robert Davis became the first Florida death attributed to the bee after being stung more than 100 times while working in Okeechobee County in April 2008. Last fall, Riviera Beach resident Nancy Hill, 70, was rushed to the hospital after being stung more than 70 times. Her dogs were killed in the attacks.
Growing concern led Bonita Springs Fire Rescue to buy 15 bee suits at $63 each.
"It was becoming an issue throughout the state," said Debbi Redfield, spokeswoman with the department.
Cape Coral has also had some nasty encounters. "We get a ton of complaints," said Connie Barron, Cape Coral spokeswoman. "We've been running into them in and around vacant homes, in water meter boxes and irrigation boxes. A lot of them are honey bees, but there's been a few of the Africanized bees."
Beekeepers are also fighting back.
Fenstermaker on Wednesday introduced a new European queen bee to Bonita's Nature Place center's hive. "The best way to keep the population of the Africanized bee at bay is by increasing the population of European bees."
Fenstermaker believes that eventual cross-breeding will result in a more docile Africanized bee.
"Africanized bee colonies are very small and the idea is that with more (European bees) we can starve them off," Councell said.(By Mark S/ Krzos, The News-Press, 7/20/09.)
Prisoners and guards attacked by bees
Miami, Fl - A swarm of bees attacked at least six guards and inmates at a women’s correctional facility in Pembroke Pines after an inmate stepped on a nest of bees.
Rescue workers arrived at the Broward Correctional Institution, about 7 p.m and took two guards and two inmates to nearby hospitals, said Mike Jachles, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman. Others were stung, but did not require hospitalization.
”These guards were trying to rescue the victim with good intentions, but they became victims as well,” Jachles said.
The victims suffered allergic reactions to the beestings on their heads and hands. The rescue workers helped keep their airways open by using intravenous medicine and oxygen masks, Jachles said.
The two male guards were taken to Cleveland Clinic in Weston. Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue took the inmates to Memorial Hospital Miramar.
Although rescue workers are equipped with emergency bee gear such as nets and foam, they did not use it. The victims had been moved away from the bees by the time they arrived, Jachles said.
Assistant warden Abel Price said nothing like this had happened before, but ”everything is fine and everybody’s OK,” he said. ”It’s just like if you have bees near your house — you see them and you run and it’s over with,” Price said.
Jachles said he did not know what type of bees attacked, but that they did ”appear to be very aggressive.” He said they might have been Africanized honeybees.
Such bees has been spreading rapidly in Florida, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture.
Jachles said the prison would need to contact an exterminator to remove the bees. Fire Rescue removes nests only if ”they are a threat to life safety,” he said. - Miami Herald July 13, 2009
40,000 AFRICANIZED BEES, ELECTRIFIED FENCE HAMPER ST. PETERSBURG FIREFIGHTERS
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - The hive grew a foot, then another, and another. For years.
The Africanized bees lived in front of Robert Porter's tiny one-bedroom house. Forty thousand of them, in an 8-foot-tall hive that stretched 30 inches wide. Sixty pounds of honeycomb.
He knew they were there. But rather than pay a beekeeper to get them out, he ignored them.
The bees and Porter, they had an understanding.
"I was living with them," said Porter, 66. "They don't bother you if you don't bother them."
Tuesday, they were bothered.
An empty bookcase and boxes, too close to a gas water heater on Porter's back porch, caught fire about 9 a.m., said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Joel Granata. Flames erupted, destroying the porch and spreading throughout the home at 1661 29th Ave. N.
The fire burned a power line, which fell and electrified a chain-link fence in the back yard.
In the commotion, the Africanized bees burst from the hive. But they didn't leave. In self-preservation, bees attempt to gather honey rather than scatter when something threatens them, said beekeeper Rodney Tyoe, a retired firefighter summoned to help.
When rescue workers arrived, Capt. Bernie Williams saw the bees and told firefighters with bee allergies to get back. That's when he felt the prick on his right shin.
"I looked down and I saw the bee sting me," he said. "I knocked him off my leg."
After firefighters controlled the fire, Tyoe sprayed pesticide and removed the burned beehive and dumped it in a box. The rest of the bees will gradually die from the pesticide, he said.
A bee stung an ABC Action News camera operator, said Granata. Tyoe also had several pricks on his arms.
Africanized bees, also called "killer bees," are common. When they sting, their bee friends flock to the scent and swarm, said Tyoe, 71, who has been "playing" with bees since he was 19.
But he hasn't had a call like this in years.
"Oh, now, I've seen bigger than that, but it was up there," he said. "It's pretty good when you get one that's 8 feet long."
Porter is an unemployed former soldier, salesman and construction worker living on Social Security. Neighbors said he loves to greet newcomers and leave Christmas gifts on porches.
"This is what happens to the nicest people in the neighborhood," said his friend James Mock.
Tuesday morning, Porter ate a bowl of Smart Start cereal, peaches and strawberries and walked to get a newspaper. Back home, his cat Black Beauty Marie (named after Marie Osmond) mewed incessantly. She had just lost two babies from her litter. Porter figured she was upset.
"Stop it," he told her. "You'll get over it. I will bury your poor babies."
He took a nap and woke about 9 a.m. to flames. Officials estimate about $30,000 in damage was done to the home, worth $79,500. Porter retrieved bills and a painting of red poppies and a Japanese geisha. The Red Cross put him up at a Ramada Inn.
Porter wasn't concerned with the bees Tuesday. He just wanted to get clean clothes and food for his cats - Scrappy, Lightening, Sabre, Scruffy, Black Beauty Marie and Zippy. By the time the fire was out, he had seen only Scrappy.
"They probably skedaddled," said firefighter Nicki Walker, allergic to bees and clad in protective gear. "There was too much going on with all the noise. We didn't see any inside."
Porter stayed upbeat, glad to be safe. He figured he'd get lunch at Denny's.
He just ordered Marie Osmond's new book, he said. It's called Might as Well Laugh About It Now. (Stephanie Hayes & Emily Nipps, The St Petersburg Times, 6/10/09.)
FLORIDA MAN SURVIVES BEE ATTACK
FORT MYERS, FL ---- A passing motorist may have saved the life of a Fort Myers, Florida man who was being attacked on Saturday by a swarm of bees near his back yard.
The victim says he was just mowing his lawn when he bumped into a hive.
Almost instantly, he says, he was being attacked by thousands of bees protecting their nest.
A passing driver saw the man flailing his arms and falling on the ground and stopped his car to get out and help.
Water from the garden hose scared off most of the bees but not before they stung the unidentified victim hundreds of times.
Experts have since removed the bees, but the homeowner says he's reluctant to return to his back yard. (Stateline News, 4/20/09.)
FORT MYERS MAN STUNG BY HUNDREDS OF BEES
FT MYERS, FL ---- A Fort Myers man was attacked and stung by hundreds of bees Saturday afternoon. He said if it weren't for a complete stranger, he'd probably be dead.
He didn't want us to use his name, but the man who was attacked said he owes his life to a driver who passed by and got out to help.
"They attacked me like a bunch of mad wolves," the man who was stung said.
Hundreds of bees swarmed him while he was in his backyard.
"I was mowing the lawn, and I just bumped into the hive, or whatever you call it, and it just exploded."
The bees flew out and went straight for him.
"I thought I was going to die, because they were like rabid animals."
Luckily for him, a Good Samaritan was in the neighborhood.
"I saw the guy out there swatting around his head and not really ferociously. I thought maybe there was a bug and he was swatting it away, till I saw him drop to the ground, and I thought, there's really something wrong," Michael Mobley said.
That's Mobley got out of his car and ran to help.
"I knew I had to do something, so I grabbed the guy and pulled him closer to the water hose," Mobley said. By then, he was already stung hundreds of times all over his body.
One day later, he was thanking a complete stranger for saving his life.
"If the ambulance didn't come and if the person didn't squirt me with water, I would've died."
The man who helped save him, will never forget what he saw.
"It was amazing. It looked like a shadow around the guy there were so many bees. I thought I was watching the National Geographic Channel or the Discovery Channel because I've never seen anything like that."
When we went to the home Sunday, a man was there working to get rid of the bees, but the homeowner said he's still paranoid to return to his backyard. (Christina Hernandez, WINK News, 4/19/09.)
FIREFIGHTERS FEND OFF THOUSANDS OF KILLER BEES
Bees Form Colony Inside Vacant Home In West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Firefighters had an added challenge while battling a blaze at a vacant West Palm Beach home Wednesday -- they also had to fend off thousands of Africanized killer bees.
Shortly after 11 a.m., the vacant home on Seventh Street erupted in smoke, but it was no ordinary fire.
When firefighters chopped down the front door, thousands of Africanized bees poured out of the still-smoldering house.
"Because the house was vacant and no one paid attention, these bees can form a colony and grow in numbers quickly," said West Palm Beach fire-rescue Chief Phil Webb.
No one was stung, but the fire chief said the bees can pose a serious threat.
"A firefighter or a bystander could literally suffer hundreds, maybe even thousands of stings if they're attacked," Webb said.
Nobody was inside at the time of the fire, and neighbors said the house had been boarded up for years.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. (WPBF-TV 25, 4/15/09.)
BEES SWARM FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING WEST PALM BEACH HOUSE BLAZE
WEST PALM BEACH, FL — As many as 1,000 bees confronted city firefighters this morning after a blaze broke out in an abandoned home west of downtown around 11:30 a.m.
The cause of the fire at 912 7th St. at Tamarind Avenue, is unknown, Fire Chief Phil Webb said.
The bees poured out of the front of the boarded-up two-story building as well as adjacent trees, Webb said. No one was reported stung — "not yet," one supervisor joked.
Firefighter Angel Serrano said bees are attracted to the carbon dioxide in exhalations. But he said headgear and uniforms protected the firefighters.
Firefighters who arrived just after 11:20 a.m. found flames shooting from a second story window, Webb said. He said the fire was quickly brought under control.
Around noon, a firefighter sawed through the front door as others sprayed foam to deter or kill any insects that came out.
There's no immediate word on a cause, Webb said. He said the building had previously caught fire about five months ago. (Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post, 4/14/09.)
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