Support the LB businesses you see here:

Carter Wood Floor pic
Carter Wood Floors, a LB company, will restore your wood floor or install a new one. Special offer for LBReport.com readers, click photo.

Lovelace pic
Who is this guy, Bill Lovelace? Click on picture to find out.

NetKontent
NetKontent Digital Video Cutting Edge Services For The Internet, Broadcast and Multimedia. Click For Info

White House pic
This house is well insured. Are you? Want presidential treatment on auto, home, business, health, boat, motorcycle insurance? Call Pollman's Insurance: 23 yrs. in business, 4th generation LB family. Info, click photo


Nino's Ristorante: A delicious treasure in Bixby Knolls. Click here if you're hungry or for catering!
3853 Atlantic Ave.

The Enterlines
Bill & Karen Enterline are ELB realty experts. Click here for info on area property values.

Your E-Mail
Click here

  • Neighborhood Groups/Meetings
  • How To Recall a LB Elected Official
  • Crime Data
  • City Council Agendas
  • Port of LB Agendas
  • E-Mail Your Councilmember
  • Council District Map
  • LB Parks, Rec & Marine
  • LB Schools
  • LB Airport Watch.org
  • Sacramento
  • Washington
  • References & Archives
  • Lost, Found & Adoptable Pets
  • LBReport.com

    News

    Aggressive Bees Attack Easter Sunday Gathering At El Dorado Park: 26 People Stung


    (April 20, 2003, initial post 4:45 p.m., updated 8:25 p.m.) -- An Easter Sunday afternoon at El Dorado Park turned into a painful, frightening experience triggering an emergency response when bees -- riled up by something -- turned aggressive and attacked over two dozen people.

    LBFD Public Information Officer Wayne Chaney tells LBReport.com the incident took place in the area of Gate 3 off Spring Street where people had gathered for Easter.

    The bees, based in a tree, eventually stung roughly 26 people -- ranging in age from three to adult.

    LBFD got the call at about 1:25 p.m. and triaged those affected. For some people, bee stings produce serious allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing and plunging blood pressure. LBFD took no chances, responding with resources adequate to transport people to hospitals if necessary...but fortunately, it wasn't.

    [update] PIO Chaney said the bees were at the bottom of a tree in a hole about 10" high and about 6" wide. Someone may have tried to hide Easter eggs in the tree or a soccer ball's thumps may have angered the bees. Regardless of the reason, the bees were clearly peeved.

    Mr Lamar Rush, Supervisor of LB Health Department's Vector Control, told LBReport.com, "The hive was well hidden. It was hard to tell there was a hive in there. Only somebody with a bee suit could actually see what I did."

    He added, "When I looked inside, I could see the cones were dark, indicating the hive had been there for a while, maybe a year."

    The bees have now been sent to bee heaven...and LB Vector Control will check tomorrow to ensure the hive has been completely eradicated.

    Mr. Rush said, "With an older hive, bees tend to be more aggressive, more protective of a well established hive."

    So were these the more aggressive, so called "killer bees?" Mr. Rush opined that So. Cal and L.A. County "has been well colonized by (more aggressive) Africanized bees, which have been breeding with (more docile) European bees, so I'd tend to believe they're a hybrid...but they may take on some aggressive characteristics."

    Mr. Rush offered this advice: "This hive was well hidden with lots of undergrowth. Be careful. Bees could be anywhere."

    The bees will be tested in the coming days to determine, by wing measurements and DNA, if they were Africanized bees, or some hybrid, or something else.


    Return To Front Page
     

    Copyright © 2003 LBReport.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Third parties may cite portions as fair use if attributed to "LBReport.com" (print media) or "Long Beach Report dot com" (electronic media). Terms of Use/Legal policy, click here