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Swarm of Aggressive Killer Bees Attack California Town of Concord, Sending People To The Hospital And Killing 2 Dogs

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 15:54 PST, May 15, 2016

The Northern California town of Concord has been under attack by a swarm of killer bees that has placed people in the hospital and is suspected of also causing the death of two dogs. Swatting and spraying seemed to have very little effect on the relentless bees, but it seems that hope is now on the horizon for the beleaguered residents.

It is believed that the aggressive bees began their attack on Friday and by Saturday, the Concord Police were actually forced to issue an alert warning people to stay clear of the bees who seemed to have made plans to meet up at the 3800 block of Hitchcock Drive, though it is possible their assembly was coincidental. Nonetheless, the police were quite clear that they had been alerted to the issue and would do their best.

“The Concord Police Department has received numerous calls about a swarm of aggressive bees in the 3800 Block of Hitchcock Drive in Concord. We are continuing to address the problem, but in the meantime, please stay out of the area.”

However, persons from the East Bay residential neighborhood are breathing a little easier today as Sunday brought little sign of the killer bees as it seems they have not made it back to their cluster.

Norman Lott is a bee expert who works with the Mount Diablo Bee Keepers Association and was called into the Concord neighborhood to assist. The man says that the incident of the bees attacking the town occurred because an amateur beekeeper had been attacked and turned around and got rid of the hive. This action led to the possibly Africanized bees having no home and simply flying around.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that according to Concord police Capt. Chris Blakely, the amateur beekeeper in question is named Arthur Janke, and when he went to check on the hives of ordinary honeybees he has kept in his backyard he was attacked by killer bees, which seemed to have taken over the hive from the other bees. He decided to get rid of the hive, but this left the numerous agitated bees free and with nowhere to go.

Janke was later taken to the hospital to be treated for the minor injuries which resulted from the bee stings. Janke himself spoke to the media and stated that the “the real tragedy was Friday, the bees would be all over people. They’d be in your hair.”

In addition to Janke, there was also need to treat a mail carrier who had been attacked and taken to the hospital. Numerous other Concord residents report being stung by the killer bees, including a little girl, however that was still not the worse news. The bees are suspected of having killed two dogs when they stung the little dachshunds to death.

The bees, which Lott said the swarms comprised of are possibly Africanized honeybees, which is a subspecies known as killer bees and would have migrated north from South America. According to Patch, Lott had been ready to assist by laying a temporary hive with bait in order to attract the dislocated killer bees and destroy them so they will no longer present a threat to people or animals.

Lott intends to prove his hunch about the bees being Africanized honeybees by testing the sample DNA that he collected from some of the bees.

The police continued to keep the main areas where the bees had attacked clear until all of the bees have been collected.

[Photo Courtesy of Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images]

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