A killer bees death in Texas has stunned a farmer’s family and friends — and the man’s loved ones say that after a tractor mishap, he was stung on every visible bit of skin.
Larry Goodwin, 62, had been driving his tractor when he accidentally “upset” a huge hive of Africanized honeybees. The killer bees death occurred as Goodwin cleared brush from a neighbor’s property — and happened upon the killer bees’ hive in an old chicken coop.
Goodwin was aided after the killer bees attack by the neighbor’s wife and daughter. The pair were stung 100 times between them as they tried to assist the farmer.
Goodwin’s daughters Tanya Goodwin and Kelley Flores said after their father’s killer bees death Saturday:
“If anybody has any brush or anything on their lands, please clear it, because they don’t want to go through this. Nobody needs to go through this.”
John Puckett, a neighbor of Goodwin’s, says that those concerned about upsetting a hive of killer bees can call for help, but that people should be aware of the danger:
“Anywhere you think a bee’s going to be. Really take precaution if you have any doubt. Call somebody or call the fire department out here and they’ll check it out for you.”
Allen Miller is a local bee expert called in to clear the hive on Saturday after Goodwin’s tragic death.
Miller says that this year, killer bees have been a far larger problem — enough to make him want out of the bee business.
In May alone, Miller has responded to five Africanized killer bee hives, and says:
“You can’t believe how bad they are. They make me want to get out of this business … They can get up under your clothes where no other insect can go.”
Miller adds :
“In a hive of ordinary European bees, about 10 percent will attack if the hive is threatened, but with African bees, all of them attack you.”
Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene, and after the farmer’s killer bees death, the older woman also stung was hospitalized in serious condition.
