Unusual Bee Attack Injures, Hospitalizes Mallgoers in Mexico

Several mallgoers were injured and hospitalized after an unusual bee attack that happened in Mexico. Read more here.

After an unusual bee attack that occurred in Mexico, several mallgoers were injured and some were taken to the hospital.

Experts on the scene said that the "aggressive" bee swarm that attacked, stung, and injured at least 10 people was an unusual occurrence. The incident happened at a mall in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Mall Goers vs. Bees in the Parking Lot

After learning of the incident, firefighters from the Guadalajara Civil Protection and Fire Department arrived on the scene. According to reports, the bees were behaving "aggressively" toward people.

Firefighters reported seeing lots of bees flying around the area when they arrived at the scene. Additionally, they discovered several victims of stings dispersed throughout the shopping center's parking lot.

Paramedics were summoned to the scene shortly after firefighters and asked for assistance.

Ten patients were attended to by paramedics there. Three people needed to be taken to the hospital in the meantime.

To stop more people from entering the area and being stung by the bees, the firefighters established a barrier around the scene.

Aggressive, Unusual Bee Attack

It is unclear if the bees in the parking lot were protecting a hive.

Contrary to popular belief, not all bee species nest in hives or live in colonies. Some are solitary. In general, those who do live in colonies won't behave aggressively toward humans as a whole.

However, if they feel threatened outside of the nest or are defending their colony, they may attack.

Although Africanized honeybees, also referred to as "killer bees," have been reported to chase people for several hundreds of feet, honeybees rarely pursue a threat over great distances.

Bee stings are generally fairly common, but attacks by a swarm of bees are not frequently reported.

Bee Stings and Allergies

These stings, in which a female bee injects venom into the victim, typically only cause minor symptoms. These might include itchiness, a slight swelling, and a burning pain where the sting occurred, symptoms that typically go away within a few hours.

However, a small percentage of people may suffer from anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that can be fatal.

According to data from a study that was published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy, about 5% of people have extreme sensitivity to insect stings.

In the worst cases, severe reactions to bee stings necessitate immediate medical attention and may even be fatal. In actuality, one of the most frequent causes of anaphylaxis is a reaction to bee stings.

A bee sting can be fatal even to those without allergies, Newsweek reports.

Also Read: This Weird New Bee Species From Australia Looks Like a Dog

Handling Swarms of Bees

In 2021, a car parked outside a grocery store in New Mexico suddenly became a hive for a swarm of 15,000 bees in under 10 minutes. Luckily, an off-duty firefighter and paramedic whose hobby is beekeeping responded with his lemon-grass oil-treated hive box. The firefighter said that he will relocate the bees to his yard, Seattle Times reports.

In 2016, a strip mall was the venue of a carpet of 30,000 bees. The expert on-site then explained that the colony most likely outgrew its hive and was en route to the new one when the queen got tired and landed. All the other bees followed suit, creating a swarming carpet in front of the strip mall. Onlookers did not approach and the honeybees moved on their own, 16News Now WNDU reports.