1 month ago
A hiker was taken to a infirmary successful captious information aft bees stung him much than 100 times connected an Arizona upland way complete nan Easter play – an emergency which required nan thief of a chopper crew.
The man reported “over 100 stings” had near him “unable to proceed his descent” from nan acme of Lookout Mountain Preserve successful northbound Phoenix astatine astir 10am connected Saturday, nan section occurrence section said successful a statement.
Technical rescue teams from Phoenix and Glendale responded and coordinated a hoist cognition to extract him from nan upland done an airlift successful a Firebird 10 helicopter.
He was transferred to an awaiting ambulance astatine nan trailhead and transported to nan infirmary successful captious condition, nan section said.
The occurrence section utilized nan juncture to counsel hikers to “avoid disturbing hives, skip scented products erstwhile outdoors, deterioration light-colored clothing, and if you brushwood a swarm – tally distant quickly and protect your caput and face”.
Dr Frank Lovecchio, a professor astatine Arizona State University, has said nan venom from repeated bee stings efficaciously “crushes your muscle”.
He told Phoenix’s Fox 10 news transmission that bees successful Arizona are highly aggressive, and it is not uncommon for personification to beryllium stung hundreds of times successful a azygous incident.
Arizona has grappled pinch nan problem of Africanized bees since their presence successful nan 1990s – and moreover insignificant disturbances tin spark swarms, endangering people, pets and livestock.
“It’s ever astir protecting nan queen bee, protecting nan hive,” Lovecchio said to Fox 10. “And it sends signals that nan different bees travel complete and benignant of onslaught you.”
Lovecchio reiterated nan occurrence department’s advice, adding that if anyone encountered a bee colony: “Keep your rima shut, screen your rima and tally arsenic accelerated arsenic you can.”
An unusually lukewarm wintertime has caused bee activity to emergence successful Arizona, and Saturday’s lawsuit was nan latest successful a agelong statement of specified episodes.
In different caller instances, 5 group were stung, pinch 1 hospitalized, aft a swarm disrupted a women’s lacrosse crippled astatine a assemblage field successful Tempe.
