Thousands of Africanized Bees Swarm, Attack Woman in Desert Hot Springs

A swarm of bees descended on a triplex in Desert Hot Springs Thursday, stinging one person repeatedly and trapping another inside one of the units.

The stinging victim was taken to a local hospital in serious condition after the attack on the building in the 14000 block of El Cajon Drive, Riverside County fire spokeswoman Jennifer Fuhrman said.

That person’s family was rescued by firefighters, while another resident was sheltering in place inside one of the units, fire officials said.

Firefighters responded at 9:11 a.m. to a report of a beehive actively swarming the triplex, according to Fuhrman.

Beekeeper Lance Davis was called out to the scene with his Palm Desert based business Killer Bee Inc., who estimates that as man as 9,000 bees were living inside a wall at the apartment complex.

“They were more aggressive than normal,” Davis told Patch of the bees’ temperament. “They were recently sprayed [by a pest control service] and that got them mad... They went berserk on the woman.”

Davis said he was able to successfully remove all the bees from the apartment complex, using a special vacuum that traps the live insects. He plans on taking them out to his hives in the Thermal area.

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– City News Service contributed to this report.

(Photo via Wikipedia)