Agricultural officials believe African bees have not colonized north of Tulare County and suspect that the July 5 attack, though savage, was isolated.
"It felt like my head was on fire," Jack McBride said Saturday, a day after learning that a state laboratory confirmed the identity of the aggressive insects that stung him more than 50 times.
"They zeroed in on my head," McBride said. "I couldn't see anything but bees. I was spitting them out, then gritted my teeth so they wouldn't get in. I was afraid they were going to kill me."
McBride was stung inside his nose and on his eyelids, face, neck, armpits and torso.
He fell, lost his glasses, tried rolling and finally ran, half-blinded, about one-eighth of a mile to take shelter in a house -- bees chasing him the whole way.
European honey bees, crucial for pollinating many California crops, "just don't overdo it like that," said Eric Mussen, a University of California at Davis apiculturist, or bee expert.
Mussen and Gary Caseri, Stanislaus County's agriculture commissioner, said African bees likely swarmed, or escaped a hive to repopulate elsewhere, after being trucked in to pollinate almonds around Modesto.
It's unlikely that African bees moved that far north on their own without confrontations reported in other counties such as Fresno and Merced, Mussen said.
African bees are similar to their European cousins in size, venom and honey production, but are much more defensive of territory, sending many more attackers and chasing victims up to a quarter-mile.
Ambulance workers administered antihistamine and an IV before rushing McBride to the hospital, where he was given morphine for pain.
"I was bitten so many times. It felt like the worst sunburn you've ever had," he said.
He felt better in about 24 hours and eventually retrieved his glasses.
One of his dogs was stung in the eye and another vomited, so he took both to a veterinarian. They seemed to recover more quickly, McBride said.
The property owner hired an exterminator who destroyed four nests, using a crane to reach some in trees.
European honey bees, crucial for pollinating many California crops, "just don't overdo it like that," said Eric Mussen, a University of California at Davis apiculturist, or bee expert.
Mussen and Gary Caseri, Stanislaus County's agriculture commissioner, said African bees likely swarmed, or escaped a hive to repopulate elsewhere, after being trucked in to pollinate almonds around Modesto.
It's unlikely that African bees moved that far north on their own without confrontations reported in other counties such as Fresno and Merced, Mussen said.
African bees are similar to their European cousins in size, venom and honey production, but are much more defensive of territory, sending many more attackers and chasing victims up to a quarter-mile.
Ambulance workers administered antihistamine and an IV before rushing McBride to the hospital, where he was given morphine for pain.
"I was bitten so many times. It felt like the worst sunburn you've ever had," he said.
He felt better in about 24 hours and eventually retrieved his glasses.
One of his dogs was stung in the eye and another vomited, so he took both to a veterinarian. They seemed to recover more quickly, McBride said.
The property owner hired an exterminator who destroyed four nests, using a crane to reach some in trees.
