ATTACK BY BEES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21820, 25 November 1940, Page 7

ATTACK BY BEES

FARMER AND HORSES A Ngahape farmer, Mr Henry Merrill, and two horses suffered severely as a result of an unexpected and determined attack on them by swarms of bees. Mr Merrin was mowing grass for hay near a colony of bees, comprising 75 hives, when the bees attacked him and his team. Mr Merrin and the two horses were soon the centre of a huge mass of stinging insects. In a vain endeavour to control his team and get them away from the bees, Mr Merrin almost became unconscious from the pain of innumerable stings, while the horses were blinded and refused to move. Bystanders quickly started a smoke screen and eventually got Mr Merrin and the horses away. Mr Merrin’s face was terribly swollen and he was placed under medical attention. A veterinary surgeon worked hard to save the badly injured horses, which had received thousands of stings and were considerably swollen. The frantic horses pawed the air in the early part of the attack to defend themselves against the onslaught. The apiarist has never known bees to behave in such a manner and launch such an attack without provocation. It is thought the noise of the mowing machine annoyed the colony.