PARADISE VALLEY, AZ — A man is in critical condition after being stung by a swarm of bees in the Paradise Valley area.
Phoenix and Scottsdale emergency crews were called to the area of 56th Street and Shea Boulevard after 9 a.m. Friday for reports of a man being attacked by bees.
The victim, in his 40s, was reportedly stung repeatedly.
Officials say when firefighters arrived at the scene they had to fight off the bees with fire-stream foam. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
”Saw a gentleman running over here with obvious distress, swatting bees,” said Marlon, who lives a few doors down from where the bee attack took place.
Once crews left, the work for Michael with Valley Wide Bee removal started. He found “weeks” worth of honeycomb in a water valve box along the front of the home.
Mike says it's common to find bees in an enclosed space like they did on Friday.
He fumigated the area to slow the bees down, removed the honeycomb then used an insecticide to try and keep them from returning.
He says one sting from a bee, can attract more.
“It releases a pheromone, an attack pheromone for all the other bees to attack that place,” he said.
Elsewhere in Paradise Valley, Scott the Bee Man was called out to remove a hive living in a wall set to be demolished.
He says this late in the summer when we’ve had more triple-digit days than ever before, plants don’t have enough nectar to attract bees, so a hive could be more defensive about the honey they’ve collected prior to the summer heat.
“There’s no honey in here,” said Scott showing off Honeycomb. “These bees were protecting the little bit of honey I can see right here,” he said.
He says October marks the end of peak bee season.
if you do encounter a swarm, or even have a bee bump into you, Scott says walk away swiftly to an enclosed space like a car or house and cover your mouth and nose.
Don’t jump in the water as the bees may still be there when you surface.
When you’re looking to remove a hive call a professional.
“The day they are not nice, they’re really not nice, they don’t come out one or two at a time, they come out a thousand at a time,” said Scott.
