Elderly Rancher May Be First Victim of ‘Killer Bees’ in U.S.
An elderly rancher who was killed by a swarm of honeybees may have been the first U.S. victim of so-called “killer bees,” a scientist said Friday.
Lino Lopez, 82, was declared dead on arrival at Starr County Memorial Hospital on Thursday afternoon after being attacked by the angry swarm of bees.
“Preliminary results indicate a high probability of Africanized bees,” said entomologist Stormy Sparks of the Texas A & M Agricultural Extension Service in Weslaco.
If confirmed, Lopez would be the first person killed by Africanized bees (also known as killer bees) in the United States since the strain migrated into Texas in 1990.
“They were very aggressive, very aggressive,” said Waylon Chandler, who killed the bees Friday and brought samples back to the Weslaco lab. “In other words, if you make the wrong move they will cover you in a matter of seconds.”
Chandler said the victim apparently had doused a burlap sack with diesel fuel, set it ablaze at the end of a stick and tried to burn the bees out of a wall in an abandoned home at his South Texas ranch. Chandler estimated there were about 60,000 bees in the hive.
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