Phoenix Fire Department
The man was “unable to continue his descent” from the top of Lookout Mountain Nature Preserve in Phoenix
The North American had to be removed by helicopter from a mountain in north Phoenix. “It’s always about protecting the queen bee.” Hikers should avoid disturbing beehives, not use scented products, wear light-colored clothing and… run as fast as possible.
A hiker was taken to hospital in critical condition after being stung more than 100 times by bees on a mountain trail in Arizona over Easter weekend. The emergency required the intervention of a helicopter rescue team.
The man reported that “more than 100 bites” left him “unable to continue his descent” from the summit of Lookout Mountain Preserve in north Phoenix around 10 a.m. Saturday, the local fire department said in a statement.
Technical rescue teams rushed to the scene and coordinated a rescue operation to remove him from the mountain by air in a Firebird 10 helicopter. He was then transferred to an ambulance waiting at the trailhead and transported to hospital in critical conditionadded the corporation.
The local fire department took advantage of the occasion to advise walkers to “avoid disturbing hives, do not use scented products outdoors, wear clothing light colors and, if they come across a swarm, quickly move away and protect your head and face”.
Frank LoVecchio, professor at Arizona State University, stated that venom resulting from repeated bee stings “basically crushes the muscles”.
Speaking to the channel from Phoenix, he said that bees in Arizona are highly aggressive and is not uncommon for someone to be stung hundreds of times in a single incident.
Arizona has struggled with the problem of Africanized bees since their arrival in the 1990s, and even minimal disturbances can trigger swarms, putting people, pets and livestock at risk, notes the .
“It’s always about protecting the queen beeprotect the hive,” LoVecchio told Fox 10. “And that sends signals that cause the other bees to come and, in a sense, attack you.”
LoVecchio reiterated firefighters’ advice, adding that if anyone comes across a colony of bees, they should “keep your mouth closedcover your mouth and run as fast as possible”.
One unusually warm winter caused bee activity to increase in Arizona, and Saturday’s case was the latest in a long series of similar episodes.
In another recent case, five people, one of whom had to be hospitalized, were stung after an attack by a swarm of bees, which interrupted a women’s lacrosse game on a university campus in Tempe, also in Arizona.
