Bees that killed dog identified

Test results rule out feared Africanized strain

A wild swarm of European bees stung a dog to death in Boca Raton last month — not the aggressive Africanized bees that some suspected, newly released test results show.

The family said their 45-pound dog, Delilah, went out to play in the backyard when the bees attacked June 21. The toxins from the stings were too much; the dog died within hours.

The state’s Division of Plant Industry within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services made its findings public this week after sending an apiary inspector to

conduct tests on bees believed to have come from the same hive as those in the attack.

After the attack, Sierra Malnove, owner of Sierra’s Bees, went to the residence to assist. She said a piece of honeycomb from a nearby hive had blown away and fallen on the ground. That created a “perfect storm” of the dog getting in the way of some angry and confused bees. Malnove called it a “very unfortunate and freak accident.”

Dan Novak, president of the Broward Beekeepers Association, said that when a beehive is disrupted, any type of bee would attack, as seen in the recent Boca case.

“Whether it was regular European or African doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “If bees came from a hive that fell to the ground, it doesn’t matter.

“They are going to be extremely upset and they are going to attack anything in sight.”

He said bees typically attack only when they think they are threatened.

“You can go up to any beehive, and if you irritate them enough they can get just as mean,” he said. “They are insects. They want to protect their home.”

He said bees usually attack the closest person or animal in a scenario such as this one.

“If the poor dog got curious and ran up to it, the bees are angry, then the bees attack because they associate, ‘We fell 20 feet from a tree and here’s something warm-blooded that might have caused it,’ ” he said.

“Bees do not go out and search out humans and animals for giggles. That doesn’t happen,” he said. “Their home got destroyed and that’s why they reacted the way they did.”

The dog’s owner, Debbie Leonard, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. “We loved that dog so much,” she said last month.

Several fatal bee attacks have happened through the years in South Florida. In 2014, a woman died after being attacked by hundreds of swarming bees in Plantation. In early summer 2013, swarms also killed one dog in West Park and another in Plantation.

Delilah