Elderly man stung 500+ times by bees

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An elderly man stung more than 500 times in a bee swarm was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, but officials were unable to find a hive.

The man was in critical but stable condition on Wednesday after the incident on the city's East Side.

Emergency crews transported Willard Duncan, 85, to University Medical Center Brackenridge . 

He was stung while doing yard work at 1000 East 13th Waller St. , near 13th and Waller streets .

A friend of his found him lying in the road and called 911.

“I turned around the corner and seen Mr. Duncan laying on the ground," said Wayne William. "He was lying on his side. His hair was golden and had bees swarming all around. You step out 10-20 feet and there was another perimeter of bees like they built a barricade around him.”

“I got stung in the back of my head and that was my cue to get the hell out of here and that’s what I did,” he said.

Crews arrived to find him in the street with the hundreds of bee stings. Though he was conscious, officials said the man was unable to talk, badly swollen in his face. The man even had bees in his nose, officials said.

In addition, a paramedic received a few treatable stings.

Officials worked for nearly two hours to find the hive, unsure of the location of the bee source, but were unable to locate one. Instead, a beekeeper said it may have been a moving swarm hiding in a grass patch - a patch the victim may have inadvertently mowed over.

“And they get pretty defensive. Like this gentleman mowing the lawnmower. You never want to mow around a bee hive, they don’t like lawnmowers,” said Brandon Ferhenkamp with Austinbees.com .

He has a website that specializes in bee care and treatment.

The beekeper said the bees looked like "your average honeybee," though the beekeper said they were probably agitated.

In addition to private handlers called to the scene, four- to five firefighters donned bee suits to try and assess the situation.

Meanwhile, bee drones swarmed as far as a block away from where the incident happened. The Austin Police Department helped with traffic, blocking off neighborhoods from 12th to 14th streets on Waller Street, including a block east and west. The situation had been cleared Wednesday afternoon.

Swarming is a natural means of reproduction of bee colonies. It's mainly a spring phenomenon, but can also happen during the summer.

Most bees attack in response to some sort of intrusion against their hive. If that happens - here's what you need to know:

• Run as fast as you can far away from the attack began.
• Get inside a building as fast as possible.
• Jumping in the water may not help because bees may still be above you when you resurface.
• As soon as you're safe, start to remove the stingers as quickly as possible to keep as much venom out of your body as possible.
• And lastly, call or have someone call 911 for you.