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What Is It?
Bees are flying insects of the Anthophila group, known for their venomous sting and
producing honey and beeswax.
Bees are adapted to feeding on nectar as well as pollen and play an important role in pollination.
This is the transfer of pollen from the male part of the plant to a female part of the
plant thus enabling fertilization and the production of seeds.
They range in size and length from 0.08 inches, for some stingless bee species, to 1.54 inches
for the largest leafcutter bee species.
They have large compound eyes and antennae which hold sense organs tasked with detecting
smell, taste and air movements.
Their mouth parts have a pair of mandibles, which are adapted for chewing and a long proboscis
used for sucking up nectar.
Their bodies have three segments and wings which, in flight, employ the same mechanics
as helicopters.
Even though the stinger averages only 0.007 inches in length, a bee’s sting can be very
painful and may even cause death.
Number 6 Chinese Woman A video which became viral in China in July
2018 showed a woman who had been stung in the face by a bee swarm, triggering an allergic
reaction that rendered her features almost undistinguishable.
She’d been trying to catch bees and collect honey up in a mountainous region when the
insects attacked.
As she filmed herself, the woman didn’t seem to be very affected by what had happened
and even made a two-line rhyme about it.
It would roughly translate as ‘I was bored and went in the mountain to catch some bees/But
I was helpless when the aggressive bees stung me’.
Yet, her face had almost doubled in size.
Her lips, nose, cheeks and left eye became extremely swollen.
This happened because her body’s defense system had overreacted to the histamine component
of the bee venom.
Many viewers and commenters, including the woman herself, found the humor in the incident
but the truth is that things could have been much worse.
Where Is It Located?
There are approximately 20,000 bee species, grouped in various biological families with
a worldwide distribution.
The western honey bee, or the European bee, is the best-known and can be found on every
continent, except Antarctica.
Bees can be solitary or live in various communities.
True honey bees are highly social creatures and their colonies are established in swarms
consisting of a queen, worker bees and male bees, or drones.
Each of them has different duties and responsibilities within the colony.
Human apiculture or beekeeping has been practiced for thousands of years, since Ancient Greece
and Ancient Egypt.
In Greek mythology, for example, honey was considered to be the food of the gods.
Beekeepers usually keep their colonies in hives from which they collect honey, bee glue,
beeswax or pollen, for personal or commercial use.
Number 5 Vern Roberts Texas man Vern Roberts was mowing his lawn
outside his Wallis home, in September 2018, when he was attacked by a swarm of Africanized
honey bees.
The aggressive insects overpowered him as he fell to the ground and he tried to stop,
drop and roll.
He could have been stung to death, if not for his wife, Mary, who helped him get inside
the house.
In doing so, the woman was stung over 60 times.
Roberts was stung nearly 600 times all over his body, including his mouth and even down
his throat.
The paramedics arrived to the house but couldn’t get to Roberts because his lawn was still
swarming with bees.
Roberts had to muster all the strength he had left to walk outside and get to the ambulance.
He was stung a few more times before he reached the vehicle.
He was rushed to the hospital and spent three days in the intensive care unit but was expected
to make a full recovery.
How Will It Kill You?
The bee is a type of kamikaze of the natural world, as it typically dies after delivering
a sting.
After a honey bee delivers the venomous injection, it leaves its barbed stinger inside your skin,
and flies away thus tearing off its abdomen.
However, the queen honeybee and other bee species are known to have smoother stingers
with smaller barbs and may sting vertebrates repeatedly.
Luckily, the queen doesn’t usually leave the hive and mainly uses its stinger for dispatching
rival queens.
When the bee stings it delivers apitoxin and releases alarm pheromones which may attract
other bees from the hive to the location.
These pheromones do not dissipate or wash off quickly and the other bees that are attracted
may exhibit defensive behavior and target the victim with hundreds of further stings.
A strong attack from an aggressive swarm may even cause death.
The main component of the bee venom which causes pain in vertebrates is a toxin called
melittin.
For people allergic to bee venom, a sting can trigger an anaphylactic reaction which
may cause death.
Africanized honey bees are the product of cross breeding between European honey bees
and the African honey bee.
Since 26 swarms escaped from quarantine in 1957, they’ve spread throughout the Americas.
There’s a reason why Africanized bees are commonly known as killer bees.
They’re more aggressive, react faster to disturbances and may chase the victim a quarter
of a mile.
Along with killing horses and other animals, their responsible for at least 1,000 human
deaths, with victims being stung thousands of times.
Number 4 Kristen Beauregard In July 2013, Kristen Beauregard and her boyfriend
were at their North Texas farm with their miniature horses when they were attacked by
a swarm of around 30,000 bees.
Beauregard was exercising her Shetland pony, named Trump, when he started to kick and jump.
Within seconds a swarm of bees started stinging them.
According to Beauregard, there were so many of them that they blocked out the sun.
The 44-year-old, her boyfriend and even their horse tried to escape the cloud of bees that
was stinging them by jumping in the pool, but it didn’t help.
As they came up for air, the bees stung them in the face and nose.
Beauregard eventually managed to get to the house, where she called 911.
Firefighters in protective gear arrived at the scene and sprayed a special foam substance
to disperse the bees.
Beauregard had been stung about two hundred times and her boyfriend about fifty times,
but they both managed to survive the attack.
Trump and a 6-year-old show horse called Chip died as a result of the numerous stings they’d
sustained.
Additionally, the bees killed five hens and also stung the couple’s dog.
Number 3 Paula Andrea Ramos Molina An attacking bee swarm can sometimes induce
such panic and confusion in their victims that it leads to tragedy.
Such was the case for 22-year-old Paula Andrea Ramos Molina.
As forestry engineer in Colombia, she was part of a team carrying out an assessment
in a rural area of the Caldas district, in September 2018.
As Ramos Molina and one of her colleagues were examining the area assigned to them,
they accidentally dislodged a killer bee hive.
The furious insects swiftly descended upon them.
As they ran away from the killer bees that were repeatedly stinging them, both Ramos
Molina and her colleague fell off a cliff.
Tragically, the young woman broke her neck in the fall and died instantly.
Her colleague, whose name hasn’t been released, suffered multiple injuries and countless stings.
They remained in the hospital and were considered to be in grave condition.
How to Survive?
Wear light colored clothing and don’t disturb bee hives.
If you find yourself swarmed, don’t try to swat at them or kill them, as the bees
will only attack you more fiercely.
Don’t jump into a body of the water as they’ll simply wait for you to resurface and sting
you then.
Cover your head and face and run away until the bees stop chasing you.
If you’ve been stung multiple times, seek immediate medical attention.
The first and most important part after being stung is removing the stinger, regardless
of the method, and cleaning the wound with soap and water.
A cold compress or icepack can be applied to the affected area along with taking aspirin,
acetaminophen and Benadryl to help ease the itching and pain.
Avoid scratching the area as it will only increase the swelling.
Seek medical attention if the swelling covers an area greater than 3 to 4 inches or if it
persists for over a week.
Those who are allergic should use a self-injectable EpiPen as the release of adrenaline will help
prevent an anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal.
Number 2 Graham Williamson The case of Graham Williamson serves as a
tragic reminder that size doesn’t matter when it comes to bee attacks.
It also emphasizes the importance of knowing what you’re allergic to.
The father of three from the West Midlands region in England was 6.5 feet tall and weighed
240 pounds.
Because of his stature, he was nicknamed ‘Hulk’ by his friends.
Unfortunately, Williamson never knew that he was highly allergic to bee stings.
While mowing the lawn outside his home, in July 2018, he was stung by a bee on his foot.
He fell to the ground and his wife, Julie, tried to resuscitate him.
The paramedics arrived to the scene and took Williamson to the hospital.
Julie and his children held vigil at the hospital while the doctors kept him sedated, to give
his body time to recover.
There was a brief moment of hope when his kidneys started functioning again but he eventually
lost his fight for life.
The cause of death was determined to have been anaphylactic shock.
Number 1 Rogerio Zuniga In June 2015, a South Texas farmer died after
he was overwhelmed by a swarm consisting of hundreds of killer bees.
54-year-old Rogerio Zuniga was using a tractor on his field, near Rio Hondo, when he accidentally
hit an old concrete irrigation pipe with the disks from his harrow.
The pipe was home to a 20-foot bee hive and the insects came storming out attacking Zuniga
inside his tractor.
He got out and tried to run away but the swarm followed him.
What happened next was like a scene from a horror movie, according to his sister Lisa.
She told a media outlet ‘…he collapsed and they stung his body to death.
He had gaping wounds, the bees shredded him basically.
It was horrible.’
Zuniga was found dead at the scene and, in the aftermath, an exterminator was brought
to kill the bees and clear the pipe.