Bees ‘covered’ a man removing a hive from his yard — and killed him, Arizona cops say

An Arizona man trying to remove a hive from a couch in his back yard Sunday evening found himself swarmed by stinging bees, sheriff’s officials in Yuma, Arizona, say.

“Covered with bees,” the 51-year-old man fled to his front yard, where deputies and firefighters responding to a 6:30 p.m. 911 call tried to rescue him, a sheriff’s press release says.

Firefighters hosed down Epigmenio Gonzalez to drive off the bees, but he later died at Yuma Regional Medical Center of “numerous” stings, the release says.

A woman at the home also went to the hospital with stings, according to the release. Several deputies and firefighters also were stung but did not require medical care.

Experts suggest not disturbing nests and not swatting at bees to avoid setting off a swarm, Scientific American reports. If bees do swarm, run to an enclosed shelter or try to outrun the bees, but don’t jump into water — the bees will wait for you to surface.

This story was originally published April 9, 2019 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Bees ‘covered’ a man removing a hive from his yard — and killed him, Arizona cops say."