LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — An 86-year-old Las Vegas Valley man ended up in the hospital after countless stings from an attack by a swarm of killer bees.
The family dog, Maple, was stung around 30 times and didn’t survive the attack.
The ordeal happened in the senior community of Sun City Anthem on July 9, according to the victim’s wife.
According to Hershfield and wife, Lynne Degnan, Henderson firefighters told both of them that killer bees were the culprit.
FOX5 reached out to Henderson Fire for more information on the incident, and any advice for homeowners.
Kenneth Hershfield was out walking his dogs and passed a home that had been vacant for months following a fire. All of a sudden, bees started to swarm.
“There were just so many of them that you don’t have the ability of course to count them or anything. They’re just swarming all over and on the top of your head and the back of your head,” Hershfield said.
“As I’m standing out in the middle of the street, I’m yelling, ‘Help please. Somebody help me… I’m screaming at the top of my lungs. While I’m doing this, this white van drives right by, didn’t stop, didn’t honk its horn, didn’t do anything– just kept right on going like they either didn’t see me or they didn’t care,” he said.
Hershfield tells FOX5 that a woman came out of her home, stopped short of coming close after seeing the bees, then ran back inside. He believes she called 911 and helped Henderson firefighters come to the rescue.
Their other dog ran back home and alerted Hershfield’s wife; she went to look for her husband and their other dog Maple.
Degnan went to visit her husband in the hospital.
“He was delirious. He had hundreds [of stings]. There were just hundreds,” she said.
Degnan made the tough call to put Maple down after she was in plenty of pain and lost her sight.
“She shouldn’t have died. It’s just not fair. She’s just a little thing,” Hershfield said with tears.
Hershfield has a warning for homeowners: monitor and check on any homes that remain vacant.
“You have these vacant properties that somebody should be looking at, and they would have known if somebody had checked the doors or the windows or done something. You never know what’s there unless you visit there,” he said.
The Nevada Department of Agriculture is monitoring the spread of “killer” or Africanized bees in Nevada; Clark County is considered a “quarantine area” in an effort to stop the spread.
Though it’s difficult to tell the difference between a honey bee or “Africanized” bee, state officials note that killer bees can be distinguished by the “aggressive” nature of their attack. “They react to disturbances ten times faster than European honey bees, and can chase a person a quarter of a mile,” an Agriculture spokesperson tells FOX5.
People who are being attacked must run a quarter of a mile to escape, state officials said.
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