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Subject:
From:
Steve Bonine <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 4 Aug 2006 07:42:39 -0500
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Angry bees attack crashed car in Indiana
,
OSSIAN, IND. - A teenage driver crashed into a hollow tree and  
stirred up tens of thousands of angry honeybees, creating a swarm  
that sent her and nine others to the hospital.

"Those bees were mad," said Volunteer Fire Chief Kent Gilbert, who  
was stung at least 50 times while trying to pull the 16-year-old  
driver from the wreckage. "I've never seen bees, especially  
honeybees, attack like that."

Jacqueline Cossairt's SUV hit the tree Tuesday after she lost control  
on a gravel road about 10 miles south of Fort Wayne.

By the time rescuers arrived, a black cloud of buzzing bees had  
engulfed the car, forcing firefighters to wear full safety gear --  
complete with oxygen tanks and face masks -- with temperatures ! in  
the 90s.

Safety workers doused the bees with water and foam while they tried  
to free Cossairt, who was taken to a nearby hospital with broken legs  
and multiple stings. She remained at Lutheran Hospital on Thursday.

A neighbor, a paramedic and seven firefighters also were hospitalized  
for bee stings and heat-related symptoms.

"You can't really train for that. You don't really know. You look for  
downed power lines. You don't look for a million bees," said Master  
Trooper Bob Brophy, commander of the Indiana State Police's Fort  
Wayne post.

Bee expert Stan Grove, a biology professor at Goshen College, said  
the insects are most active in warm weather when they furiously fan  
their wings to cool the temperature of the hive.

"They don't like to be jostled," Grove said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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