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Incident Record

Rancher died after apparent bee attack caused tractor/shredder fall

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.

Record ID: TX-FORTBEND-2004-0529
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This record is part of a first-pass incident research dataset. Records, categories, and source notes may be updated as additional information is reviewed and verified.
Date May 29, 2004
Location Richmond / 22530 block of Canal, Fort Bend County, TX
State TX
Record Type Incident
Trigger / Activity Farm / Ranch / Field Work
Severity Fatality
Bee ID Status Bee ID Unknown
Aggression Classification Bee attack / equipment-related incident

Incident Summary

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.

Public-Safety Lesson

Bee attacks around tractors and shredders can create secondary injury hazards; workers may be injured not only by stings but also by equipment, falls, and panic during escape.

Impact Flags

Human Fatality Yes
Human Hospitalized No
Animal Fatality No
Responder Involved Yes

Source Information

Source: Houston Chronicle

Source Strength: B