Man dead in bee attack in Far East Mesa (scorpions, construction)

[Jkgourmet]

Bee sting death: Man dies after being stung 1,000 times - CNN.com

[atler8]

When I read about this in the morning news, it really weirded me out as I hiked in that park during a visit to Mesa back in 2007.
Then, a couple of hours later I read about the fatal fire ant attack in Alabama.
God help me if the earth worms in my garden turn into man-eaters!

[observer53]

Tragic.


They have actually closed that portion of the park until they find the bees. I suspect the entire park will be pretty empty this holiday weekend.

[exit2lef]

What's scary about this is that it didn't occur on a remote back country trail. The Merkle Trail is an incredibly easy one-mile trail near picnic areas and playgrounds in the heart of Usery Mountain Park. I've taken my children on ranger-led hikes on that trail. It's as tame a hiking experience as you'll find anywhere. The only lesson I can take from this is to be even more when careful hiking this time of year -- not only due to the heat, which was actually quite mild yesterday, but also due to the bees and snakes that become more active as the weather warms.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

What's scary about this is that it didn't occur on a remote back country trail. The Merkle Trail is an incredibly easy one-mile trail near picnic areas and playgrounds in the heart of Usery Mountain Park. I've taken my children on ranger-led hikes on that trail. It's as tame a hiking experience as you'll find anywhere. The only lesson I can take from this is to be even more when careful hiking this time of year -- not only due to the heat, which was actually quite mild yesterday, but also due to the bees and snakes that become more active as the weather warms.

I was thinking the same thing. And, it's not like the ones where landscapers or construction workers inadvertently disturb a hive. These guys were just hiking, in an area where you would not expect a giant swarm of bees.

[BIG CATS]

Just run like hell, thats all you can do.

I came across a big swarm in the PHX Mts 2 years back. I just froze in my tracks and walked the other way. You could hear the buzz of them from a good 30 yards away, it was intense.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Just run like hell, thats all you can do.

I came across a big swarm in the PHX Mts 2 years back. I just froze in my tracks and walked the other way. You could hear the buzz of them from a good 30 yards away, it was intense.

4 years ago at this time (Memorial Day Weekend 2012) coincidentally, me and my late father were at Border Field State Park in San Diego and were walking towards the beach, and we heard a loud hum, and we instantly almost walked into a huge swarm of bees, there must have literally been thousands just flying in place, we were frozen for about 5-10 seconds trying to think what to do, and after that immediately ran back towards the car 😮

[BillyJackAz]

So, does anyone know if the guy had an allergic reaction to the bee stings that caused his death? Or did the massive accumulation of stings just have such a significantly harmful effect that it somehow killed him (i.e. caused his heart to stop, or his throat to swell and cut off his air)? I mentioned this story to someone at work earlier and they seemed to assume that it pretty much had to be an allergic reaction, alluding to it being extremely unlikely that the stings alone would kill a regular/healthy person who wasn't allergic.

This is definitely very sad to hear about, and frightening. If anyone else has helpful suggestions about what to do when facing a situation with bees, please do share them!

[Bummer]

Many years ago, I was attacked by a Gaggle of Yellow Jackets (coma, hospital stay for days, etc) and can honestly state to this day that Bees do not attack on a whim . . .

Something and/or someone sets them off prior to the attack and in this case we will probably never know for certain.

[Desertdude88]

Such a tragic story, and like others have said I googled the trail and its very accessible trail, its terrifying that they were attacked out of nowhere and I hope they can find the hive and prevent further attacks. I am gonna share one of my own terrifying encounters below as well from last month.

Before moving to AZ, as a avid hiker I always feared the usual suspects (snakes, scorpions, heat exhaustion) but over the past few months I have learned that swarms of bees may just be the most dangerous. Around early April I was doing one of my weekend hikes, I went to Dreamy Draw rec area as it is fairly close to me and I havent been there yet. I started hiking one of the trails (I cant remember the name) I get to a point where there is a small path leading to a more rocky higher point off the trail (there werent any signs not to go up there like in other parts of the park), I climbed up there with no problem and at the top I was pulling out my camera for a few photos of the view, I noticed a few bees kinda by me and kinda ignored them at first, eventually there were more and I felt uneasy this isnt normal so I decided to head back down, I glanced up first and my stomach sank when I saw a MASSIVE swarm of bees probably 15-20 feet above me, the sky was literally black where they were. I bolted down the area super fast hoping not to fall and break my neck falling (just scraped my leg). I know a few years ago a guy fell to his death on Camelback running from a swarm of bees. I also heard that swatting at the bees usually agitates them and can possibly encourage the swarm to attack. Am not gonna ever stop hiking, but I am much more vigilant now and a bit more paranoid.