Hi everyone.
The following story is a report on the death of a man in Arizona
that died from an apparent attack from African Bee's. My friend knew the
man who died, and sent me the following report. He wanted to know what
should this man have done to ward off the attack, and possibly save his
life. I told him that I did not have any experience in Africanized
bee's, but I said that I would post the report on Bee-L, because I know
that there are beekeepers on this list who have had extensive experience
with Africanized bee's, and would have good advice.
At times I hate the "killer bee" hysteria, especially when some
people think that all bee's are very dangerous, and they don't want our
hives within miles of their homes, and how many beekeepers have suffered
losses over this hysteria? I for one can think of several recent posts
to this list from beekeepers who have suffered great losses.
I wish that with this news report they would have had a rebuttal
from a local beekeeper to tell people how to handle such emergencies,
and to say that people should not be alarmed. I realize that this is a
serious problem and scares people to death, but I tell people that a
person can die from just one sting from any bee or wasp if they are
allergic.
My very best friend, and teacher I had when I was in Jr. High died
from a single sting from a yellow jacket, and he knew that he was
allergic, and carried his sting antidote around with him except couldn't
get to it in time, just one day when he was out pruning in his apple
orchard, and he died. So I know how serious bee's can be. I think that
there needs to be more public education through reports in news papers
and magazines in defense of the honey bee. Maybe I just live in a state
( California ) that doesn't have any public announcements as yet because
there haven't been many well publicized killer bee attacks as yet.
If you could ad some answers to my questions please email me.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
BRIAN HENSEL
[log in to unmask]
BEE ATTACK KILLS MAN; 3RD ARIZ.
DEATH
Source: MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL
TUCSON, ARIZ. - MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL from Dialog
via Individual Inc. : Gary Elam was lying on his couch when someone
pounded on the front door of his mobile home and began screaming for
help.
Sprawled on the front steps was a man whose head ''was just literally,
completely covered with bees,'' said Elam, who lives with his wife,
Mary,
and his daughter, Mary Jo, 30.
''They were all over him, but mainly his head. It was just an ugly
sight,''
Elam, 56, said of the fatal bee attack he witnessed Tuesday.
Elam dialed 911, then the family threw buckets of water onto the
victim
through the screen door that shielded them from the swarming bees.
Then
they went outside and hosed him down. The victim was Frank Garcia, 72,
according to investigator Ernie Appel of the Pinal County Medical
Examiner's Office.
Garcia was pronounced dead 55 minutes after Elam's call, Appel said.
Preliminary autopsy results Wednesday indicate Garcia died of
anaphylactic
shock due to multiple bee stings, he said.
Garcia is apparently Arizona's third human fatality due to an
Africanized
''killer'' honeybee attack. Though the bees have not been analyzed by
a
qualified laboratory, the mass attack is ''clearly African (bee)
behavior,''
said Eric Erickson, director of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in
Tucson.
When the ambulance arrived, Elam said he helped administer CPR while
paramedics struggled to get breathing tubes down Garcia's swollen
throat.
''This man was covered literally with hundreds - if not a few thousand
-
bees,'' said Chief Steve Kerber of Regional Fire and Rescue, part of
the
emergency crew that responded. ''He was just saturated so heavily,
like a
blanket of bees, which is really a horror-show-type scenario.
''Everybody's heard the horror stories, but nobody wants to believe
them,''
Kerber said. ''This is proof that it can and will happen, that these
bees will
blanket you and sting you to death.''
[04-15-97 at 17:24 EDT, Copyright 1997, MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL
APPEAL]
Contact: MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL
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