At least two firefighters and one police officer are recovering after they were attacked by a swarm of Africanized bees while responding to a call about a bee sting near Pasadena City College.
An apiarist who visited the scene estimates that there were 30,000 to 40,000 bees. The colony was living on the roof of the Howard Johnson hotel on Colorado Boulevard.
“We have firefighters who have been working here for many, many years, and they said this is by far the most bees they’ve seen at one location,” Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian told the Los Angeles Times.
A total of six people were taken to the hospital.
Africanized bees, or “killer bees,” are a hybrid of the western honey bee and African bees. They are an invasive species, introduced to the U.S. in the 1990s. They’re an aggressive group of insects that travel in much larger numbers than regular bees.
Photo by Jared Belson