Incident List

First-pass public web research found AHB presence/status materials and bee-safety guidance, but did not locate a strong Arkansas-specific severe honey-bee attack hospitalization or fatality record.

Jesus Cenobio Sonny Diaz was attacked while mowing in Brownsville after disturbing an Africanized honey bee colony in a pipe near the road. He reportedly received 18 stings and was treated and released.

Africanized honey bees were first discovered in Arizona after a colony established in the roof of a Tucson house stung a small dog to death on June 6, 1993. The colony was examined by experienced beekeepers and federal and state scientists.

Officials confirmed that 82-year-old Lino Lopez died after being stung by Africanized honey bees. Secondary summaries say he was trying to remove a colony from a wall in an abandoned building on his ranch near Harlingen.

NMSU describes New Mexico's first Africanized honey bee encounter in October 1993 after a rancher in Hidalgo County reported persistent stinging attacks at a cattle corral. The colony had established in an old tire used to hold salt.

Christopher Graves was starting a lawn mower at his grandmother's house when bees swarmed from a vacant building. One sting was followed almost instantly by full-body coverage; he was stung roughly 1,000 times and taken to Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi in serious but stable condition. Fire Chief Julio Flores described finding him covered in bees head to toe.

J.C. Johnson, 86, was reportedly stung more than 1,000 times after disturbing a large hive while mowing. His son, a police officer, and an emergency worker were also stung or treated. UPI identified the bees as Africanized.

Historical summaries identify 88-year-old Mary Williams of Apache Junction as the first Arizona human fatality from Africanized honey bees. She was reportedly stung more than 1,000 times outside her home.

A historical summary reports that a 66-year-old man became Arizona’s second Africanized honey bee fatality on October 18, 1995, after being stung approximately 130 times near Phoenix. Needs original source and victim name before public merge.

OSHA reported that two workers clearing ranch land by dragging a long anchor chain between two Caterpillar bulldozers knocked down a tree containing a hive; one worker died after about 30 stings and another worker who ran to help was hospitalized for multiple stings.

A 2009 Review-Journal article states that in 1998 a rottweiler left on a leash in a backyard was killed by bees. Exact date and original source need follow-up.

OSHA reported that an employee using a D-6 earth mover to clear a path at a farm lot disturbed a hive hidden in shrubs; bees pursued him about 100 meters and he died of multiple stings.

A Brewery Gulch resident sprayed a long-established beehive wedged in an old brick warehouse; the Africanized colony erupted into the street, attacking pedestrians, dogs, birds, and even telephone poles. A tied-up Labrador retriever died five hours later. Eight people were hospitalized, including Debrah Strait, stung up to 300 times after bees filtered into her car through a partially open window. A policeman had to wrap himself in a blanket for protection.

A BeeRescue archived article reference reports that Pat Starr, a new Venice resident, lost her 2-year-old puppy to bees. The record is retained as a historical animal-fatality lead pending stronger date/source confirmation.

A 2009 Review-Journal/AP article states that a 77-year-old Las Vegas woman was stung about 500 times in 2000 and survived. The exact date and original source remain to be verified.

A 77-year-old Las Vegas woman was critically injured after being stung more than 500 times near Maryland Parkway and U.S. 95. Fire officials described the bees as Africanized honey bees in contemporary coverage.

A Las Vegas Sun historical roundup reports that in May 2002 a hive was discovered in a tree about 100 feet from Kit Carson Elementary School after at least three children were stung.

Juan Robles, an elderly Kirby man, died after a bee attack on his front porch. Firefighters responding to his medical-alert button found his face covered with stingers and bees, according to Fire Chief Kevin Riedel.

A 2009 Review-Journal/AP article states that a horse in Pahrump was killed by an angry swarm in 2003. The exact date and detailed source still need follow-up.

A Las Vegas Sun roundup reports that an 88-year-old man was attacked in May 2003 after applying Comet cleanser to a hive that had reportedly been in his front yard for years.

A Tucson man and his 13-year-old son were attacked by Africanized honeybees while climbing in Saguaro National Park. The boy dislodged part of a hidden hive on a cliff face. The father was stung over 200 times and hospitalized overnight; the son was stung about 50 times and treated and released.

Keith Abbe, a Peoria schoolteacher and karate instructor who had just moved to Arizona from Michigan, was on his first-ever outdoor rock climb with best friend Jess Passage on Camelback's Hart Route when bees attacked from a hive near the top. Running out of rope while down-climbing to escape, the pair untied and continued down unroped; Abbe slipped and fell about 50 feet. Passage, stung roughly 100 times, watched his friend fall and was hospitalized in stable condition. An American Alpine Club incident report from the surviving climber ('Jeff' - likely a pseudonym or the AAC report's byline differs from the news account's 'Jess Passage') provides an extraordinarily detailed first-person account of the incident, including that a prior 2001 Camelback bee attack had caused a climber's fall resulting in broken vertebrae.

Ranch owner Bruce Harrison, 54, was found dead near a tractor/shredder. Fort Bend County officials said he appeared to have been trying to escape or swat bees when he fell, and he had multiple bee stings and lacerations from the shredder.

OSU reported that bees from a Tillman County stinging incident near Tipton were confirmed by USDA-ARS as Africanized honey bees; seven members of a work crew were treated at a local hospital.

Animal Attack Files index contains a lead dated Aug. 23, 2004: “CA: Bee attack near Barstow leaves six people hospitalized.” Needs original source before publication. Marked public-visible preliminary because the event appears real but one or more details remain pending.

UAEX directs people not to attempt removal or destruction of suspected AHB colonies and to contact the Apiary Section of the Arkansas State Plant Board.

UAEX animal-safety guidance states Africanized honey bees arrived in Arkansas in 2005 and warns that penned or tied animals near honey bees are in special peril.

A 2006 public forum post quoting a Miami Herald context article described a Hendry County incident near LaBelle in which a horse was attacked while being washed, with bees covering the animal’s head and face. The original article/date should be verified later.

A Tucson running club encountered a large swarm while running off-trail near Tanque Verde Ridge. A 46-year-old man was airlifted by helicopter after roughly 400 stings and admitted overnight; a 37-year-old was ground-transported after about 100 stings, treated and released same day. Six to eight additional runners were stung, some up to 30 times, none requiring further treatment.

UPI reported that Africanized bees stung at least six people in a Tucson Foothills neighborhood and that pest-control workers removed a colony from an elementary school the same day.

Arkansas public materials and public reports state that Africanized bees were first discovered in southwestern Arkansas near Brightstar in Miller County in June 2005.

Encyclopedia of Arkansas states that by June 2005 Africanized bee colonies were established in several Oklahoma counties bordering Arkansas; in the next month, several were found in Miller and Lafayette counties, with isolated swarms reported in three other counties.

Louisiana officials reported that Africanized honey bees were first discovered in the state in July 2005 after USDA confirmed samples taken in June from a swarm trap near Rodessa in north Caddo Parish. The finding was described as the first case of Africanized bees entering Louisiana through natural range expansion.

Roosevelt County extension agent Floyd McAlister reported that an Eastern New Mexico University worker was stung about 30 times by bees while working at Lewis Cooper Rodeo Arena. The article discussed confirmed Africanized bees in Roosevelt County and a rise in local bee calls.

A BeeRescue page quoting a Miami Herald item reports that a Miami Gardens resident tried to move a log containing aggressive Africanized bees, triggering an attack on occupants, responding firefighters, television journalists, and family dogs; one dog died.

A regional article states that bee attacks had been reported in Carlsbad, Artesia, and Portales in 2005, and that bees attacked three Artesia police officers, one Eddy County sheriff’s deputy, and two civilians on a Thursday according to an AP report.

KOAT reported that a New Mexico State University entomologist confirmed Africanized honey bees at a home in a subdivision northwest of Santa Fe. The report noted the bees had spread to 12 New Mexico counties and were expected to remain established in the state.

12-year-old Dustin Taylor, known to be allergic to bee stings since toddlerhood, swatted at what he thought was a fly while walking home, triggering an attack from a hive in a dead tree branch. He was saved by pure chance: paramedics and a CHP officer were already on scene nearby for an unrelated car accident and reached him within a block, administering anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers before hospital transport. Nurses spent 40 minutes removing 25 stingers from his body; his mother and grandmother counted 'in excess of 60' total marks. A county agricultural official noted Africanized bee attacks were then still infrequent in Kern County.

A 24-year-old man was killed after being attacked by hundreds of bees while cleaning his truck in Sandy Valley, Nevada; the retrospective states the trigger was unknown, suggesting a possibly unprovoked or minimally provoked attack.

A St. Bernard Parish house being demolished after Hurricane Katrina contained Africanized hybrid bees. The bees reportedly drove away demolition contractors and beekeepers before mosquito-control workers killed them; the state agriculture department confirmed the Africanized strain.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry reported that nine Africanized bee swarms had been intercepted at state ports since 1988, including in shipping containers, barges, and ships.

Louisiana agriculture officials reported another confirmed positive Africanized honey bee sample in a trap along the Mississippi River in St. Bernard Parish, about one mile south of Meraux and two miles southeast of Chalmette. Officials said Africanized bees should be assumed established in the area.

Agriculture specialists with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly detected and destroyed a swarm of Africanized honey bees onboard a cargo vessel that arrived in Gulfport from Honduras in late April 2008.

Robert E. Davis, 51, died after being stung more than 100 times by bees state officials described as likely/high-probability Africanized honey bees.

A second group of Africanized honey bees was reportedly found in mid-May 2008 on a cargo vessel in Pascagoula that had come from Jacksonville, Florida; the bees were destroyed.

At a South Texas cattle-ranch operation near Batesville, a worker on a tractor reported he had been attacked by bees while shredding an alleyway; he later died in the ambulance after roughly twenty stings.

A 53-year-old man operating a backhoe disturbed a boulder covering a large Africanized honey bee colony and was stung hundreds to possibly a couple thousand times. Firefighters used water to knock bees off him, and he remained hospitalized in intensive care.

An 83-year-old man was attacked while mowing; two CareFlite crew members and two firefighters were also stung during rescue. Firefighters used hose and foam, and a firefighter drove the ambulance to the hospital.

The Georgia Beekeepers Association hosts AHB resources assembled with the Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA, including public information, a model SOP for fire departments, and children/livestock guidance.

A family-submitted report described six or seven hog dogs chained near a tree on a ranch in Medina County. A bee colony occupied a hole on the opposite side of the tree where a stake chain was tied. Multiple people were reportedly stung, and a dog named Nemo died following the attack.