Arizona man recovering after being stung by swarm of bees
PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA) - A 70-year-old landscaper from Arizona is recovering after a swarm of bees stung him dozens of times earlier this month.
Benjamin Montgomery still knows his way around a chainsaw.
"Landscaping is easy and understandable, and I've been doing it for about 30 years," Montgomery explained.
But after three decades in landscaping, Montgomery never experienced being stung by a swarm of bees.
"They swarmed all over me," Montgomery shared.
Hundreds of bees swarmed Montgomery while clearing weeds in a yard near Seventh Street and Thomas Road.
"I tried to put water on me and it didn't work. I just sat down and that was it," Montgomery detailed.
He doesn't remember what happened next, but his assistant, James Sawyer, found him unconscious and covered in bees.
"I was screaming 'Ben, wake up' because they were all over his face, but he didn't respond and I'm thinking, 'Oh God, please don't do this,' and I'm scared thinking they may have attacked him a couple of times and maybe he just passed out and now, they're trying to finish the job," Sawyer remembered.
Sawyer called 911, and firefighters hosed Montgomery down and took him to the hospital, where they pulled dozens of stingers from his face, arms and legs.
"They got him everywhere. I mean all over his body," Sawyer spoke.
Evan Henderson with Busy Bee Pest Solutions says bees spent the warm winter breeding and they became active earlier than usual this spring.
"They've been so nasty and it's because of all the over brooding," Henderson expressed.
Henderson says the best thing to do in a situation like this is to stay calm adding, "I would say the best tip would be isolation, getting to a room, a car, a garage, to where you can kind of nip it in the bud."
Montgomery spent nearly a week in the hospital, but even with swelling and blisters, he's back to work, and he says he's not going to let this scare keep him from doing what he loves.
"I'm just a regular old guy doing what I can," Montgomery declared.
