Bees Attack Arizona Woman

Mary Williams just wanted to close the door of an abandoned house on her property in Apache Junction, near Phoenix.

But when she did, a cloud of angry bees swarmed the 88-year-old woman, leaving her nearly dead from an estimate 1,000 stings.

“She was standing at the gate surrounded by bees. Lots of bees,” said Jim Matti, a neighbor.

“I tried to get them off, but I couldn’t. She was screaming, ‘Help! Help!’ After awhile, she couldn’t say much. It was awful.”

Apache Junction Fire Chief John Flynn said several bees are being examined to see whether they are the Africanized “killer bees” or the more docile domestic honeybee.

The attack occurred shortly after 10 a.m.

“The neighbors said it looked like a big black cloud following her,” said Williams’ niece, Norma Hein, of Phoenix.

Williams, covered by bees, stumbled into the street in front of her house. Neighbors tried to roll her to get the bees off, and Matti offered a blanket to beat them off, but nothing worked.

Firefighters used a fire hose to blast the bees off Williams, who was flown by air ambulance to a Mesa hospital. She was in critical condition.