BREAKING NEWS: Two Attacked By Suspected Africanized Bees

LAKE PLACID - Two Highlands County employees were treated in what appeared to be an Africanized bee attack Monday afternoon, multiple county officials said.

Parks and recreation maintenance workers Jason Gonzalez and Tim Neese ran nearly half a mile from a tree at 1501 Lake Clay Drive, Lake Placid, crossing a bridge and a canal to escape the swarm, Highlands County Emergency Management Director Bill Nichols said.

After they escaped the bees, Gonzalez and Neese tried to return for their lawn mowers, but the bees went after them again, stinging Gonzalez three or four times. Neese couldn't count how many of them hit him.

Neese required a short visit to the hospital where he was treated and released.

County Parks and Recreation Director Vicki Pontius said that Neese showed up later that afternoon to show how his day went.

"He showed me welts on his face, his forehand... I saw at least seven or eight, but they really went for his face," Pontius said.

At press time, Nichols said he had an exterminator on scene examining the bee hive.

Once they are done, he said he'll send some of the exterminated bees to John Alleyne, the director of the University of Florida's Highlands County Cooperative Extension Service office, for identification.

"I called him (Alleyne) out there to take a look," Pontius said. "He's pretty certain they're Africanized."
The tree was sapping, and Pontius suspected the bees were drawn to the sap. The county plans to cement the hole sometime Tuesday, even though the exterminator suggested cutting the tree down, she said.

Africanized bees respond to buzzing noises and are known to swarm lawn mowers.