Friends remember man killed in bee attack
Posted: Jul 14, 2011 2:11 AM EDT Updated: Jul 14, 2011 2:11 AM EDTFriends expressed shock and sadness after hearing about the tragic death of 46-year old Oscar Navarro, a man attacked by a big swarm of killer bees last Friday.
Neighbors who shared the property with Navarro described him as a very friendly man, who would always bring candy for their kids, and greet them with a kind word.
Lewis Urling was not only good friends with Navarro, he was also his landlord. Urling said Navarro was a former pilot, who was on disability. He was diabetic.
Urling said with his health and condition, there was no way Navarro would have been able to out-run or fight off the hundreds of bees, that attacked him.
Neighbors were horrified to hear about the death.
"I just burst out crying. You would expect that. He was the sweetest man you would ever meet. I can't imagine his pain. Nobody should die like that," said Navarro's neighbor Dulce Pena.
Tucson city crews found a bee-hive buried in a Mesquite tree in a wash, just a few hundred yards away from the boys and girls club, at Joaquin Murietta Park, on N. Silverbell Road.
The city called the Northwest Exterminating company to get rid of the hive.
Crews put on bee suits and protective masks, and attacked the hive with rakes, and nozzles filled with a soap solution. They also left behind sticky traps to catch the bees that were still alive.
By Wednesday evening, crews said they had killed off most of the Africanized honey bees, including the Queen of the colony.
Dena Berg, the manager of Northwest Exterminators said Africanized Honey Bees were the most prevalent species in Tucson. They typically came out during the monsoon, when plants started to flower. They were also considered the most aggressive and deadly bees out there.
This was the first bee death in Pima County this year.
Friends say Navarro, who did not have a car, was walking by the park towards Blockbuster video to return some movies, when the bees attacked him.
Witnesses said he was covered with bees from head to toe, and was stung hundreds of times.
Pima County officials said an autopsy showed that Navarro died from "mass envenomation."
See the rest of the story here
Sadly, attacks by Africanized Honey Bees, (AHB or Killer Bees), will only become more commonplace, as these invasive insects continue to exploit available areas. Here in Florida, our official AHB slogan is " Bee Aware: Look, Listen, Run!, which at first sounds silly, but in fact is quite helpful. Take a look at our Dept. of Agriculture's, Apiary Section AHB Poster
Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
The Buzzkillers, LLC
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com
Neighbors who shared the property with Navarro described him as a very friendly man, who would always bring candy for their kids, and greet them with a kind word.
Lewis Urling was not only good friends with Navarro, he was also his landlord. Urling said Navarro was a former pilot, who was on disability. He was diabetic.
Urling said with his health and condition, there was no way Navarro would have been able to out-run or fight off the hundreds of bees, that attacked him.
Neighbors were horrified to hear about the death.
"I just burst out crying. You would expect that. He was the sweetest man you would ever meet. I can't imagine his pain. Nobody should die like that," said Navarro's neighbor Dulce Pena.
Tucson city crews found a bee-hive buried in a Mesquite tree in a wash, just a few hundred yards away from the boys and girls club, at Joaquin Murietta Park, on N. Silverbell Road.
The city called the Northwest Exterminating company to get rid of the hive.
Crews put on bee suits and protective masks, and attacked the hive with rakes, and nozzles filled with a soap solution. They also left behind sticky traps to catch the bees that were still alive.
By Wednesday evening, crews said they had killed off most of the Africanized honey bees, including the Queen of the colony.
Dena Berg, the manager of Northwest Exterminators said Africanized Honey Bees were the most prevalent species in Tucson. They typically came out during the monsoon, when plants started to flower. They were also considered the most aggressive and deadly bees out there.
This was the first bee death in Pima County this year.
Friends say Navarro, who did not have a car, was walking by the park towards Blockbuster video to return some movies, when the bees attacked him.
Witnesses said he was covered with bees from head to toe, and was stung hundreds of times.
Pima County officials said an autopsy showed that Navarro died from "mass envenomation."
See the rest of the story here
Entomologist's Comment:
Sadly, attacks by Africanized Honey Bees, (AHB or Killer Bees), will only become more commonplace, as these invasive insects continue to exploit available areas. Here in Florida, our official AHB slogan is " Bee Aware: Look, Listen, Run!, which at first sounds silly, but in fact is quite helpful. Take a look at our Dept. of Agriculture's, Apiary Section AHB Poster
 |
| Bee Aware: Look, Listen, Run poster |
Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
The Buzzkillers, LLC
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com
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