Bee stings behind nearly 45,000 ACC claims in five years
Bee sting-related injuries are behind a total of 44,969 claims made to ACC since 2015, Kendall Hutt writes.
BEE stings have left people critically injured, caused a bus to crash and even resulted in death, leading to more than 40,000 ACC claims in recent years.
In the last five years, bee sting-related injuries have resulted in a total of 44,969 claims to ACC.
Last year, the most claims were lodged – 8894 – at a cost of $799,032.
In 2020, there have been 5480 claims up to September 30, totalling $555,840.
There were 8267 claims in
2018 at a cost of $762, 470. This was up from 7769 claims in 2017, totalling $676,902.
Bees were responsible for 8193 ACC claims in 2016, costing $620,613 and was a bit lower in 2015, resulting in 6366 claims at a cost of $557,003.
Aucklanders lodged the most claims – 11,692 to be exact. Waikato was close behind with 6713 claims. The West Coast had the fewest claims, with only 243 lodged.
People getting a sting to an ‘‘internal organ’’ was recorded as the most common injury site, with a total of 18,001 claims in five years.
Getting stung on the foot was second, with 1023 claims, followed by the hand/wristwith 535 claims.
A total of 23,693 claims were recorded as ‘‘other’’.
A laceration/puncture/sting was recorded as the most common primary diagnosis, with 42,705 claims received in the past five years.
Inhaling or ingesting a bee was behind 279 claims, and a soft tissue injury was behind 90.
A foreign body in an orifice/ eye had the fewest claims, with only 34.
A total of 1861 claims were recorded as ‘‘other’’.
It is unclear whether any of these stings occurred during honeybee swarming season, when they are meant to be their most docile and placid.
The season can occur as early as August and runs through until January.
‘‘Bee-friendly’’ weather was behind an early start to the season in 2018, and Bee Swarm’s Dave Grant said this year’s season kicked off a couple of weeks early, in mid-September.
But unlike in 2018, there had been no vacuuming honeybees off a car at Pak’n Save in Royal Oak or catching a 15,000-strong swarm in Kaukapakapa.
‘‘There’s just been backyards, trees. The usual stuff – nothing too exotic.’’
Grant has earlier said the public did not need to be afraid of the natural phenomenon, which occurred when a hive became too crowded and a new queen was born.
The old queen then left the hivewith a significant number of the worker bees to look for a new home, with the worker bees hanging around her, en masse, to ensure she stayedwarm and safe.
‘‘When bees swarm, they kind of become drunk on honey. It’s very rare for them to sting when they’re swarming,’’ Grant said.
‘‘People panic and think they are going to die, but bees are at their most docile, placid.’’