Teen's driving lesson: Avoid bees

NFS4

No Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
72,636
46
91
:shocked:
Thursday, August 3, 2006 Posted: 1425 GMT (2225 HKT)

OSSIAN, Indiana (AP) -- A teenage driver crashed into a hollow tree and stirred up tens of thousands of angry honey bees, creating a swarm that sent her and nine others to the hospital.

"Those bees were mad," said Volunteer Fire Chief Kent Gilbert, who was stung at least 50 times while trying to pull the 16-year-old driver from the wreckage. "I've never seen bees, especially honeybees, attack like that."

Jacqueline Cossairt's SUV slammed into the tree Tuesday after she lost control on a gravel road about 10 miles south of Fort Wayne.

By the time rescuers arrived, a black cloud of buzzing insects had engulfed the car, forcing firefighters to wear full safety gear -- complete with oxygen tanks and face masks -- with temperatures in the 90s.

Safety workers doused the bees with water and foam while they tried to free Cossairt, who was taken to a nearby hospital with broken legs and multiple bee stings. She was remained at Lutheran Hospital on Thursday.

A neighbor, along with a paramedic and seven firefighters, were also hospitalized for bee stings and heat-related symptoms.

"You can't really train for that. You don't really know. You look for downed power lines. You don't look for a million bees," said Master Trooper Bob Brophy, commander of the Indiana State Police's Fort Wayne post.

Bee expert Stan Grove, a biology professor at Goshen College, said the insects are most active in warm weather when they furiously fan their wings to cool the temperature of the hive.

"They don't like to be jostled," Grove said.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
 

KillerAngel

Senior member
Mar 24, 2001
249
0
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Ramming a tree and having bees swarm out and attack.... For some reason, I'm reminded of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
so they weren't even africanized honey bees? and yet they still swarmed and attacked? that sucks.
 

junkerman123

Golden Member
Jul 4, 2003
1,935
0
0
quote:

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Originally posted by: NFS4

"They don't like to be jostled," Grove said.


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haha, awesome.
 

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
In the early 90's there was a crash at the intersection of I-287 and the New York State Throughway near Tarrytown New York. A truck carrying hundreds of hives flipped and spilled the hives out on the highway. If memory serves the resulting swarm was tens of millions of bees over that area of the road. It was a major mess, but I can't find any pictures online.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Originally posted by: destrekor
so they weren't even africanized honey bees? and yet they still swarmed and attacked? that sucks.

Killer bees will probably attack just for walking near their hive. These bees had an SUV smashed into their home. Any of those hive insects will attack something that directly messes with their hive.


Originally posted by: PHiuR
what did you expect? Bees holding up a sign saying "Free honey"?
That's what a pimp does when he's having a sale.
 

bunnyfubbles

Lifer
Sep 3, 2001
12,248
3
0
I wonder if they were fleeing the cops and planned only to pretend to be attacked by bees only to actually have bees there...