Bees Sting Man 300 Times in Texas
A man in Texas had to be rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after he had an unfortunate encounter with a colony of honey bees, resulting in him being stung several hundred times while he was at work.
According to local reports, a 40-year-old warehouse worker was moving a cabinet which he did not realized contained a huge colony of over 100,000 bees. Bees are usually docile but will swarm if they feel that their hive is in danger. Bees also have the unique ability to leave pheromones on the victim attracting even more bees to the scent.
Police in Pflugerville, which is about 15 miles north of Austin, stated that the unidentified man was in a stable condition when he was taken to a hospital after the attack. Police also said that three other people were stung, but not seriously, by the aggressive bees.
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Beekeeper Keith Huddle, who aided in removing the bees, revealed that the bee colony contained a staggering 125,000 bees which produced over 120 pounds of honeycomb, according to reports in the American-Statesman.
But instances of bee attacks are on the rise after scientists uncovered that more aggressive Africanized bees were breeding with the less aggressive European bees; creating a hybrid bee that can live in varied climates as well as be very aggressive.
"Anytime you're dealing was with honeybees, you really need to be careful because you can't tell," said Wizzie Brown, an entomologist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, according to KVUE.
Brown added that the label placed on "killer bees" is not totally accurate due to the fact those bees only attack if their hive is in danger.
"If somebody was trying to move your house to a different location while you're in it, you would probably be mad too," Brown said.
