Crew relocates hive after swarm attacks workers
Oklahoma City workers were caught off guard Wednesday morning as thousands of bees began swarming them while they were picking up brush and trees.
Just before 11 a.m., debris removal crews were working near SE 23 and Walnut Avenue using a grappling arm to pick up a large, hollowed-out tree to set it in the back of a dump truck when they disturbed a beehive.
One of the workers was stung about 15 times and the other a couple of times as they both ran to the safety of the truck’s cab, said Capt. David Macy, spokesman for the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
Macy said both workers were evaluated on scene and their injuries weren’t serious enough for them to be taken to the hospital. He said the workers showed none of the signs of anaphylactic shock associated with an allergy to bee stings.
Officials called Forest Chapman, a beekeeper and community outreach coordinator with the Oklahoma State Beekeepers Association, to help collect the swarm.
Chapman said he loaned city workers some beekeeper suits as they worked to get the beehive contained in the back of a truck.
“There’s probably over 100,000," Chapman said. "They live in hollow trees, they come up in eaves of houses, anywhere there’s a quarter-inch hole they can get into."
“We’re getting ready to take them out to the country,” he said as crews were preparing to leave the scene.
Despite the sheer number of bees in such a small area, Chapman said the threat is typically minimal as they won’t attack unless they feel like they’re being attacked.
“They’re pretty much docile. They’re looking for food ... and when they sting you, they die, so they don’t want to sting you,” he said. “They’re looking for somebody to blame for tearing up their home.”
Macy said Wednesday’s call is unusual. It’s probably only the second beerelated incident he could recall responding to.
He said the incident just goes to show how city workers sometimes don’t know what hidden dangers they’ll face despite best safety practices.
“They can’t ever tell when something like that’s going to be hiding in one of these brush piles that they’re picking up,” he said.
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