A swarm of angry bees in an apartment building injured one man and kept police and firefighters at bay last night.
The man was apparently trying to get a bee hive out of a second-story apartment in the Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood when he was stung multiple times. The man reportedly suffered some sort of allergic reaction, and was attended to by Arlington County paramedics.
Police and firefighters, meanwhile, stood watch over the building, at 1300 N. Rhodes Street, while they waited for a contract exterminator to show up.
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Doing this yourself is a bad idea. Call an exterminator or beekeeper.
Initially it was reported that the victim was wearing a beekeeper’s outfit. And there was some sort of makeshift beekeeping gear in the parking lot. Not sure if the victim was an actual beekeeper or not, though.
From the photos, it looks like the victim tried to throw the hive out the window. I do not think he is a beekeeper. Was there a bee smoker (used by beekeepers, it helps to calm bees) present?
What likely happened:
Bees built hive in building, in an empty space in the walls.
Maintenance guy or resident tried to get rid of them himself.
Maintenance guy or resident found out that it isn’t that easy.
For small outdoor hives, I use the spray that shoots like 20 yards. It knocks them down immediately.
I once had a larger hive in a bush. I could not get close to it and wouldn’t have had enough spray to saturate the whole thing. I stayed away from it until winter. Then when all the bees went into it and hibernated I covered it with a garbage bag, snipped a branch, sealed the bag, and threw it in the garbage.
I’d never attempt an indoor one myself.
“thanks” (NOT) for killing those bees, when so may bees are dying from disease….
Yeah. Sorry. Meant it in terms of a hive rather than bees. Should have been more careful in my description.
A hive is bees, a nest is wasps or hornets. But lots of people confuse these insects all the time. Bees are great pollinators that are struggling so we should try to save them, whereas wasps and hornets are evil and aggressive and must die.
It is almost certain that none of these were bees, but rather yellowjackets or hornets. The hive in a bush was likely paper wasps.
Yes, paper wasps. Sorry.
Seriously, call a beekeeper or exterminator. The bees in the picture look like honeybees (Apis Mellifera) to me and the comb looks like honey is running down the window sill. That open honey is a huge invitation to all of the other honeybees/wasps/hornets in the neighborhood to “come on down.” (Wasps & hornets = vespids.) And once there is a sting, a pheromone is released that will incite a frenzy. Nothing to screw with!
Also, the best spray to use is a strong solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent and water–it will down them immediately. That is–if the bees can’t be safely moved.
I’m going to have to do a search to see how often the “bee sting” tag has been used.
NOT THE BEES !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MqTCIDKhU
They’re sting crazy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBYjBH_1-Y
Man pisses off bees. Bees sting man. More at 11.
Didn’t that guy know to mind his own bees-ness
That was terrible, honey.
You guys are really combing the area for every last bee pun.
I know, I am the Queen of puns.
Are you pollen my leg right now?
Enough. Stop bee-ing so silly.
A. Much like somebody that would do something stupid like making illegal fireworks in an apartment building, you must have a total lack of consideration for everyone else around you to think there’s nothing wrong with keeping a beehive inside your apartment. Maybe a little arrogance too if you think “well, nothing is going to go wrong on my watch…”
B. If you have an allergic reaction to bee stings, then choosing beekeeping as a hobby might not have been your brightest idea.
Yes to all that. I wonder if there might be criminal charges if, in fact, he was keeping a beehive in his apartment. I hope so.
How would one do that? The only way you could is to either put a hive in a room and leave the window open (and the door closed), which would be nutty, or use a perfectly safe and legal observation hive (the kind under glass where you can see the bees) with a tube running from it to the outside. This doesn’t look like either of those.
Yeah, good point. So maybe you’re right – it was a maintenance worker trying to remove a hive the bees had built in the wall or cieling.
I didn’t get that he was keeping bees in his apartment from this story. I got that bees had taken up unauthorized residence in some part of the building. Illegal aliens, to put it in ArlNow context.
C. 1 + 2 = Darwin Award
Not to be insensitive (I know, too late), but technically he gets a Darwin Award only if he dies or becomes sterile from this.
Becomes sterile? They stung him there?
I do not know where he got stung. I only meant to list the conditions for receiving a Darwin Award (due to a stupid decision, either death or sterility takes that person’s genes out of the gene pool and thus helps smarter humans propagate).
Oh, okay. But being sterilized by bees is within the realm of possibility, I guess. Ow.
Angry bees are better than angry birds!
I suspect Jenny has a crush….
Honey Badger Don’t Care…watch him get stung by bees!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
Honey badger don’t give a s—.
Better bee careful next time.
All this buzz about nothing.
Makes me want to wax poetic.
brings me out in hives just ot think of it…..