Mystery hives for bee swarm discovered

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Stung more than 500 times Wednesday by a swarm of bees, 85-year-old Willard Duncan has been upgraded to fair condition at Brackenridge Hospital.

Meanwhile, bee experts found two hives on Thursday near the scene at 13th and Waller - big hives tucked into rotted tree trunks, each with thousands of bees. Walter Schumacher of Central Texas Bee Rescue, who located the hives, said bees get cranky in the summer and this is the time of year when bee populations are at their peak.

"If you look what humans do in the hotter months, it's about the same thiings bees do," Schumacher said. "They get aggressive, they get angry, they get hot. They want a cold drink of water."

Schumacher's plan to remove the dangerous hives is to section off the tree trunks, and take them with their hives into the country.

Duncan was trying to make some extra money by mowing other people's lawns when the bees swarmed him.

Duncan was rescued on Wednesday afternoon when a the Bee Response Unit of the Austin Fire Department rushed to his aid after a passerby made a 9-1-1 call.

In that call, Rob Seidenberg can be heard frantically saying, "There are bees, hundreds, swarming around a guy that can't get up off the ground. Thousands."

The dispatcher asks if the man is being attacked and Seidenberg replies, "Yes, yes he is. Badly." The dispatcher then asks if Seidenberg can pull the man away, and he replies, "No, no, I'll be totally...no. I mean it's crazy."

Then Seidenberg shouts that the bees are coming for him, and flailing, commotion and cursing can be heard. The dispatcher tells him to  hang up and run.

It's believed Duncan may have stirred up the bees with his lawn mower.

Brandon Fehrenkamp, a longtime beekeeper with Austinbees.com said:

"A swarm is not there to attack you. They're just looking for a new home. I really think the lawnmower had a lot to do with it. Lawnmowers and bees don't get along."