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Only happy When It Rains
Dozens Of Bees Attack Man Mowing Lawn
FREEPORT, Texas -- A 64-year-old Brazoria County man was hospitalized after a swarm of bees attacked him while he did yard work, Local 2 reported.
John Thibodeaux was mowing the front yard of a home in the 1800 block of West 11th Street at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when dozens of bees swarmed him.
"I got hit from right here -- my eyes (were) swollen shut -- all the way down my back, back of my legs," Thibodeaux said. "It was like a big, black cloud and they came in droves. One cloud hit and would back off and another one would come. I mean, they followed us all the way in his garage and all the way in my house."
The bees came from a nearby nest burrowed in the walls of a vacant house across the street.
He was stung from head to toe.
"My neighbor tried to come save me," Thibodeaux said.
"I figured I could go and try and knock some of the bees off of him," the neighbor said. "He was fighting the bees off."
"(The neighbor) got about midway to the street. The hive split off. Half went to him and half went for me. They followed me in the house and stung my wife in the house," Thibodeaux said. "We had to swat to get the bees out of the ambulance to go to the hospital."
He said he knows the attack could have been fatal.
"I got out of intensive care (Monday) at 4 p.m.," he said.
The owner of the vacant home is in the process of getting rid of all the bees.
A few of the dead bees will be sent to College Station to determine if they were the Africanized honeybees, also known as "killer bees."
Experts said that the Africanized honeybees are similar to the European honeybees that are common in Texas, but they are more aggressive.
Africanized bees have already been detected in Brazoria County. It's one of 154 Texas counties quarantined for the bees. The quarantine restricts movement of commercial bees to reduce the risk of spreading them.
Africanized bees were first detected near Brownsville in 1990.
FREEPORT, Texas -- A 64-year-old Brazoria County man was hospitalized after a swarm of bees attacked him while he did yard work, Local 2 reported.
John Thibodeaux was mowing the front yard of a home in the 1800 block of West 11th Street at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when dozens of bees swarmed him.
"I got hit from right here -- my eyes (were) swollen shut -- all the way down my back, back of my legs," Thibodeaux said. "It was like a big, black cloud and they came in droves. One cloud hit and would back off and another one would come. I mean, they followed us all the way in his garage and all the way in my house."
The bees came from a nearby nest burrowed in the walls of a vacant house across the street.
He was stung from head to toe.
"My neighbor tried to come save me," Thibodeaux said.
"I figured I could go and try and knock some of the bees off of him," the neighbor said. "He was fighting the bees off."
"(The neighbor) got about midway to the street. The hive split off. Half went to him and half went for me. They followed me in the house and stung my wife in the house," Thibodeaux said. "We had to swat to get the bees out of the ambulance to go to the hospital."
He said he knows the attack could have been fatal.
"I got out of intensive care (Monday) at 4 p.m.," he said.
The owner of the vacant home is in the process of getting rid of all the bees.
A few of the dead bees will be sent to College Station to determine if they were the Africanized honeybees, also known as "killer bees."
Experts said that the Africanized honeybees are similar to the European honeybees that are common in Texas, but they are more aggressive.
Africanized bees have already been detected in Brazoria County. It's one of 154 Texas counties quarantined for the bees. The quarantine restricts movement of commercial bees to reduce the risk of spreading them.
Africanized bees were first detected near Brownsville in 1990.
Better then me or the little one getting stung.