Tree trimmer attacked by Africanized bees released from hospital Sunday

10News ^

[nickcarraway]

For the first time, a tree trimmer stung about 500 times by Africanized killer bees on Saturday described the attack.

He was working on a tree in the front yard of a home in Safety Harbor when he cut through a massive hive.

"This giant swarm just came directly at me. It's like they knew who did it," Ralph St. Peter explained.

Photo Gallery: Man stung 500 times by Africanized bees

St. Peter's hands and face are still swollen. From head to toe, he's covered in bee stings.

"Fireants. It would be the same as fireants," St. Peter said, also comparing his attack to someone sticking a needle in him repeatedly all over his body.

Hours after being released from the hospital, St. Peter's wife, Jenna, still had to pull out stingers.

"Kind of reminds me of a porcupine. You're just pulling pins out of a pin cushion," she said.

St. Peter, a veteran tree trimmer of 30 years, says he knew there were honey bees in the tree, but not the Africanized type, let alone the estimated 50,000 that swarmed him.

"Fear, nothing but fear," he said when asked what he was thinking during the attack, "because I knew what they were. They were definitely killer bees. Regular bees don't do that."

St. Peter says he should have called an exterminator to remove the bees before starting the work.

He credits his co-workers, who helped him get down from the tree, with saving his life.

"I would have died. They weren't stopping," St. Peter said.

On his first day back at work on Monday, he says he's going right for the same tree.

"The bees are obviously gone, so I'll finish the job tomorrow," he said.

[JoeProBono]

[teenyelliott]

He should sue the hospital for negligence. They should have never have released the bees.

[donna]

March 18, 2010
PHOENIX -- A swarm of Arizona killer bees attacked at least four people in north Phoenix on Thursday night, leaving two women who were stung more than 100 times each in critical condition, firefighters said. (snip)

http://www.kpho.com/news/22884822/detail.html

[snowsislander]

Also, what is/where does the word "Africanized" appear in our dictionaries today? I hate the "---ized" words that are being made up.

Well, according to Dictionary.com, it appeared around 1850-1855:

Africanized - 1 dictionary result

Af·ri·can·ize    /ˈæfrɪkəˌnaɪz/
–verb (used with object),-ized, -iz·ing.
1. to replace the European or white staff of (an organization in Africa) with black Africans.
2. to bring under African, esp. black African, influence or to adapt to African needs.

Also, especially British, Af·ri·can·ise.

Origin:
1850–55; Americanism; African + -ize

—Related forms:
Af·ri·can·i·za·tion, noun

[precisionshootist]

This is AZ.

They are not “Killer Bees” they are “Undocumented Bees”.

[Sender]

My favorite badly-written title, which actually inspired a book title, was from a piece about Panda bears. The title was supposed to be:

Panda Bear Eats Shoots and Leaves

...but the author added a couple of innocent commas:

Panda Bear Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

[fredhead]

My pet journalistic peeve is the use of the term “teen” for a person who is 18 or 19 years old. It’s not totally incorrect, but it implies that the person is a juvenile. At 18 one is an adult. Why is it so hard to say “an 18 year old man” instead of “a male teen?”

[Slings and Arrows]

Note headline.