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KTLA, TV Channel 5 in Southern California, reports
A woman was critically injured after being stung "hundreds of times" by a swarm of bees in Lake Forest [South Orange County] Monday morning [July 16], and three others--including two firefighters--were also injured, officials said.
[...] "Units arrived on scene and they found her basically completely covered with bees from head to toe", Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito told KTLA.
The swarm was so severe that firefighters didn't have time to put the special safety gear on that they would normally wear while responding to such incidents, according to Bommarito.
"They got out, they started felling the bees, they saw the patient down this cul-de-sac completely covered--her face was completely covered with bees", he said.
They grabbed [a carbon dioxide] extinguisher in an effort to remove the bulk of the bees off of the victim, then "basically dragged" her to a safe area about 200 yards away, according to the fire captain.
"She was basically non-responsive" to firefighter commands, although she could still move, Bommarito said.
The woman, described as being about 50 years old, was stung "hundreds of times", according to a tweet from the Fire Authority. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The firefighters were stung "multiple times" and taken to a hospital in stable condition.
I have seen other stories about humans in SoCal being swarmed by Africanized "killer" bees. (I am assuming that that is what these were.) It makes me wonder how far north these bugs will range before winters get too cold for them--and how much climate change will exacerbate the situation.
Anybody north of L.A.'s latitude had similar reports where you are?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Wednesday July 18 2018, @02:40AM
They might, if the queen is aging -- bees with an old queen (4-5 years) tend to get mean. Seen it happen, with a wild hive that moved into a barn wall -- first 3 years they were so gentle you could stick a finger in there or peer into their entrance and they'd just ignore you. 4th year they got testy if you came close to the hive. 5th year you didn't walk past it unless you wanted to get chased and stung. 6th year -- they were gone. Yeah, normally bees replace the queen but sometimes they don't.
A captured swarm was worth about $200 a couple decades back (when I was working for a SoCal beekeeper) tho generally people just want to be rid of them, so beekeepers often charge for the privilege.
Been chased by Africanized bees -- even the meanest English bee is nothing like it. English bee might chase you 20 feet, one or two at a time. Africanized bees come after you en masse and chase you a lot furthert ... had to run for the trailer and they hit the door behind me like machine-gun fire. And they'll even do that while swarming -- quite unlike English bees.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.