AUSTIN, Texas — Seven people were hurt in a bee swarm attack on Monday evening at Richard Moya Park in southeast Austin, near the airport. One couple told KVUE they know how risky a bee attack can be.
Five years ago, Vern Roberts was mowing his backyard when his wife, Mary, heard him shuffling on the ground. She ended up walking around the front of the house to find him.
"I see my husband and a much bigger cloud of bees following him. I see him just as he's falling, and it wasn't long before there was a bunch of bees trying to attack me," Mary Roberts said.
Nurses estimate Vern Roberts had more than 600 stings while Mary Roberts had almost 50.
"Everybody wanted pictures. They'd never seen anybody with that many bee stings," Mary Roberts said.
Walter Schumacher is the founder of American Honey Bee Protection Agenc. He warned that we've recently experienced a lot of rain and sun, which makes for lots of bees. This leads to hives.
But he emphasized that a swarm isn't dangerous.
"What's dangerous is when a beehive is not attacked but interrupted or disturbed," Schumacher said. "So the more you swat and do those kind of things, the more bees are attracted because they're attracted by motion."
Cpt. Darren Noak with Austin-Travis County EMS said bees are not out to attack for any reason. If you bump into bees while working around the house, take that as a warning sign.
"So heed those warnings and kind of get out of the area at that time. One of the things you can do is kind of hold your breath and leave the area," Noak said. "If the bees are starting to swarm and even attack, you need to run."
You also need to protect your body.
"No. 2, you want to protect your face and hand area, your nose, your mouth, your eyes as best as possible," Noak said. "An actual myth though is, you know, jump in some water and submerge yourself ... That's a myth."
These are all tips you can use while we are in the midst of swarming season.