Texas ranch owners injured, rodeo horses dead after shocking bee attack

A Texas community is reeling after a shocking bee attack last week led to multiple hospitalizations and the deaths of three rodeo horses considered "family" to their owners. The traumatic incident has led officials to warn Texans about aggressive bee attacks, especially at this time of year.


"The bees are active and will become more active as the weather warms," wrote the Comanche Volunteer Fire Department in a Facebook post Monday evening that recapped the situation.


The incident occurred at the ranch owned by Baillie Hillman and James Ramirez' ranch on FM 590 just outside Comanche, about 100 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Hillman wrote May 10 on Facebook that at around 11 a.m. May 9, she went outside to check on the horses and realized they weren't moving. She saw a black cloud over the horses and tried to move them, but then Hillman realized the cloud was a thick swarm of bees.


"Millions of bees attacking my horses and now attacking me," Hillman wrote. "They were filling my glasses and my ears and dive bombing my head ... they dug into the bun on my head and got caught in my hair."



Hillman retreated inside to cover up in jeans, a coat, beanie and rag, then came back outside and ultimately called for help. Ramirez arrived, then the volunteer fire department arrived. Meanwhile, Hillman wrote she had dragged one of the horses away, but that angered the bees who continued to sting her and the horses violently.


"Sobbing and going into what I can only think was a panic attack, the ambulance pulled in and ushered me into it to try and keep the bees off me and to get the stingers out of my neck, scalp and face," Hillman wrote.


When emergency officials separated the horses from the bees, they found that the equines "sustained hundreds of bee stings." A second fire department arrived wearing bee suits, according to the Comanche department, and crews took action to treat the horses. An exterminator wearing a bee suit found a bee hive in a tree nearby. Unfortunately, Hillman wrote, her three rodeo horses died. Their names were Ace, Clovis and Pepper.

"I see their swollen faces when I close my eyes. I see the way they stood just letting the bees swarm them. Hopefully one day that image will blur."



"I don't post on Facebook ever. I don't share my daily life. But, everyone deserves to be prepared and I don't want this to happen to anyone else," Hillman wrote. "Losing horses like this is something I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I see their swollen faces when I close my eyes. I see the way they stood just letting the bees swarm them. Hopefully one day that image will blur."


Hillman, who was treated for stings along with Ramirez (both are recovering), called it the "scariest day" of her life.



An Africanized honey bee.National Invasive Species Information Center/Creative Commons


The volunteer fire department noted that it was "assumed that the bees in this attack were the dreaded and feared Africanized bees due to the very aggressive and relentless attack on the people and horses," but it wasn't immediately clear, and the fire department said all bees could be aggressive in a perceived threat. Also known as a "killer" bee, the Africanized honey bee is native to Africa and was first found in the U.S. in Texas, back in 1990, according to the National Invasive Species Information Center.


The Texas Apiary Inspection Service with Texas A&M AgriLife Research says the Africanized honey bee is "just a slightly different honey bee," and that anyone attacked should cover their head and face, exit the area immediately and dial 911 for serious incidents.