Swarm of angry bees attacks, kills local couple’s two dogs

Jerrilinn Folz considers her three dogs to be part of the family, but over the weekend, two of the dogs were killed by a swarm of aggressive bees.

She said her husband, Dave, was preparing to mow the lawn Saturday at the family’s home in Robinson.

When he started the mower’s engine, the bees attacked him.

He ran inside to the house, but two of the couple’s dogs were left helpless locked inside a fence.

The bees swarmed the dogs, stinging them hundreds of times.

“They were just solid with bees on them. You couldn't even make out the frame of their bodies because they were absolutely covered,” she said.

Dave Folz tried to drive the bees off with a mosquito fogger, but it only agitated them more.

Within an hour, both of the dogs were dead.

“They were killing our babies, and we couldn't do anything about it,” Jerrilinn Folz said.

She said they have had bees in their backyard for years and they have never had a problem.

Trey Miller, a bee specialist at Bee Be Gone, said that the vibrations of a lawnmower can irritate the bees, causing them attack.

Miller said there were more than 100,000 bees in the Folz’s backyard.

“It was an enormous hive, it was 6 feet, just enormous,” Miller said.

He explained that after it rains, bees lose their sense of smell and will swarm into other hives.

He believes the bees that migrated to the Folz’s yard were aggressive, killer bees.

“They will not stop until you kill them or they can get to you,” Miller said.

He said this kind of bee attack can happen to anyone.

Miller suggests that people be cautious when approaching abandoned areas in their backyard, do not mow the lawn after it rains, and exterminate bee hives before it is too late.