Atlasville bee attack: Pensioner critical but stable
Bee expert warns that as soon as bees start storing honey they get more protective
According to the wife of an Atlasville pensioner who was stung by a swarm of bees on December 26, her husband is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
Daniéle Leroy told the Advertiser yesterday (December 29) that her husband, Jack, has lost proper function of his one kidney and his heart – apparently due to the poison from the bee stings.
Jack was stung after he cut grass around a meter box in the Atlas Spruit Park, close to their home, on the corner of Kakelaar Street and Nightingale Road at about 5pm that day.
He was transported to Tambo Memorial Hospital after collapsing on his driveway.
“The doctors told us my husband’s heart is no longer functioning properly, as well as one of his kidneys. Apparently the poison from the bees damaged his kidney. I am still hopeful that Jack’s body will fight this,” Daniéle said.
Bee expert Jan Oberholzer, who was also called to the scene, said bees tend to be more docile when they move to areas such as a wall or dustbin.
“When left there too long, they start building combs which will give them space to harvest honey and collect honey to store in the combs. As soon as they start storing honey, they have something to protect and the longer you leave the hive the bigger it will grow and the more protective the bees get over the hive,” he said.
Oberholzer warned if anyone mows lawn close to a beehive there will be problems.
“Bees don’t like certain smells or the vibration and loud noise caused by a lawnmower.
“One thing you can do to prevent being stung is to run. Many people tend to jump into nearby water, like a swimming pool, but this still puts you in the vicinity of the attacking swarm so the best thing to do is to run into the house and close the doors then take off the bees that are on you,” he said.
“If you can’t go into the house you’ll have to run a far distance before the bees will leave you alone. If you are in an area where there are lots of trees you should run through the leaves of the trees because bees can’t navigate through trees.”
Oberholzer confirmed he removed the beehive from the meter box in the park.
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