Woman Stung 'Over 100 Times' In SWR Bee Swarm, 2 Sent To Hospital

MURRIETA, CA — Two people were treated for multiple bee stings in Murrieta as firefighters battled a swarm Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters arrived to confront the active bee swarm at about 2 p.m. in the 23000 block of Spring Branch Court, according to Murrieta Fire and Rescue Information Officer Dawn Morrison.

“Concerned neighbors called 911, reporting that the homeowner was being stung by bees outside of the home,” she said.

The woman who lived in the home was stung over 100 times, Morrison told Patch. A firefighter who was sent to help was stung more than 15 times.

Medics took the woman to a nearby hospital for treatment, though her condition was not released. They also took the firefighter to the hospital as a precautionary measure, she said.

Several other firefighters were also stung during the ordeal, though no one else suffered serious injuries due to the attack, according to Morrison.

About 15 Murrieta firefighters and the battalion chief used a "foaming" technique to mitigate the bees. Firefighters called in a bee removal expert to assist with the cleanup and hive removal.

The Murrieta Fire Department engines are equipped with “Bee Kits” to aid in being an “All Risk” fire department and assist our community in emergencies of all kinds, Morrison said.

Aggressive bee sightings have become more frequent in Southern California. The most recent Murrieta bee attack is one of multiple bee swarms Patch has tracked across Southern California in May and June.

Firefighters, CHP officers, and crash victims were stung after a car collided with trees on the shoulder of I-15 southbound near Temecula on May 4. Another incident near Banning occurred on May 22 as a neighbor attempted a backyard bee removal, releasing a bee swarm that stung a dog hundreds of times. That family pet ultimately died.

Why so many bees? Record rains and wildflowers have contributed to the active southern California bee population, according to SoCal bee expert Noel Goetz.

"Bee removers have never been so busy," Goetz told Patch. Now the owner of Hive to Home and Discount Bee Removal, Goetz teaches people the art of beekeeping and the science of how to manage a functional bee hive. He also collects swarms and is a live bee relocation specialist in the Pass Area.

A dangerous swarm forms when a hive is disturbed, and if that hive is full of feral bees—bees that have not been tended to or raised by a gentle queen—they become aggressive and dangerous. All bees have hybridized with the aggressive "Africanized bee." It is the wild bee that becomes defensive.

When feral bees feel attacked, an alarm goes out to the hive and they swarm for protection.

"All it takes is one sting for the attack pheromone to be released," he said. "They're sending the alarm 'attack! attack! attack!' Once the disturbance compromises that colony, everyone goes on the defensive."

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