Golf course employee dies after being stung by swarm of bees

[Stewart Abramson]

Is this common? I get bitten by mosquitoes and pestered by gnats from time to time, but don't recall experiencing problems with bees on a golf course.


Link to full article:  https://www.aol.com/golf-course-employee-dies-being-173737428.html


Excerpts:


"A golf course employee died after being attacked by a swarm of bees in Arizona.
The incident happened in late June, near hole 8 at Pusch Ridge Course, part of El Conquistador Golf in Oro Valley, about 10 miles north of Tucson.
The groundskeeper, Rick Messina, was mowing in the area when he was stung, El Conquistador Golf said...
Someone called authorities about the incident at 7:17 a.m. on June 24, said Darren Wright, a spokesperson for the Oro Valley Police Department. Messina was taken to a local hospital and died three days later on June 27.
The day of the incident, beekeepers inspected all 45 golf holes on the property. The beekeepers found no hives nor bee activity and gave the property the all clear.
“It appears Rick was attacked by a traveling swarm of bees,” El Conquistador Golf said in its statement to USA TODAY.
Employee was ‘dedicated’ and ‘cherished’ at golf course
Messina was 57 years old and worked for El Conquistador Golf’s agronomy team since July 2022, the company told USA TODAY.

[Tim Martin]

My experience is with ground bees. I’ve seen them on the golf course plenty of times over the years and usually someone needs to get stung before there is any thought of disturbing them. They are great pollinators but if provoked deliver a nasty sting and itch for days

[Matt Schoolfield]

I grew up in Texas after killer bees (AHB) had established themselves. Most people don’t realize that most people can outrun bees. If you see a swarm avoid them as the article states, but be ready to run away to shelter and warn others.


It’s an absolute tragedy when this happens, but it will continue to be a threat as the hybrid continues to proliferate across the continent.

[Jeff_Brauer]

In over 40 years in the biz, I have seen a death and two near fatal events.


First was going to Medinah with Ken Killian.  We called to confirm the appointment, but when we got there 45 minutes later, the guy at the guard house told us the superintendent had died of bee stings.


On a project in Wisconsin, I had two teenagers assembling swing joints in an old barn on the property.  I checked on them periodically and the third time they were gone.  I guessed they had quit early, but found out the next day that one of them was stung in the throat and allergic to bees, and almost died.


In Indonesia, one of our shapers was knocking down trees and a wasp nest fell right in his lap.  He was chased by hundreds of bees and stung almost 100 times.  We took him to a local hospital, which was so dirty I wouldn't have taken my dogs there.  It was one of those things that cooled my enthusiasm for international work.

[Rob Marshall]

We had a super die in Rochester many years ago. He didn’t have his epipen with him on the course and didn’t make it back to his office in time. He was from a family of golf course superintendents.


When I was about 12 I set my golf bag on a ground beehive. Not fun and scary as hell.

[JLahrman]

My then-8-year-old son got stung by an insect from a ground hive two years ago, right after we moved into our home in Michigan. Turns out he is allergic to insect venom. Luckily we had an epipen because he's also allergic to peanuts. We had to give him two doses on the way to the ER, he had a serious reaction.


We didn't even realize we had a ground hive (I'm still not sure if it was bees, yellow jackets, hornets, or something else) until some guys doing some yard work disturbed it and a bunch of them came out. If my son had been stung multiple times I really believe it would have been fatal. I think he was stung by one insect either leaving or returning to the hive; he didn't disturb the hive itself.


I went out that night and got rid of it using a screen, dish soap, and a hose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF42nrZvb-g


Those hives are not to be trifled with.

[David_Tepper]

After I trip to the emergency room with a bee sting on my ear lobe many years ago, I give bees a width berth. Fortunately I have never confronted a bee hive when it was angry.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Lots of golf courses here in Ontario have added bee hives.  My club put them in several years ago and they harvest and sell the honey.  But there haven't been any issues with stings as far as I am aware.

[Don Mahaffey]

I was a Supt in AZ for over a decade. Every landscaper, groundskeeper, or golf maintenance employee has bee/hornet/wasp stories. Bees are the worst because of the numbers.
At Wolf Point during construction we had excavators with operators inside with windows blacked out by bees because they stirred a hive in the old oaks.   Its scary, and horrible when you encounter an angry hive with no place to hide.

[Craig Sweet]

My understanding is that bees are fairly docile but wasps are aggressive.  Sadly, wasps and bees all get lumped together and are called "bees".


"New York State is home to 416 species of bees and 90 species of wasps..."

[Don Mahaffey]

My understanding is that bees are fairly docile but wasps are aggressive.  Sadly, wasps and bees all get lumped together and are called "bees".


"New York State is home to 416 species of bees and 90 species of wasps..."

When its 105 degrees and the wild bee hive has been bred with the more aggressive strain there is nothing docile about it.  These aren't white box hives, these are wild hives hidden in nature that are inadvertently disturbed.  Its very ugly when that happens.

[Ben Sims]

I worked pest control for four summers in high school. We’d get about one “bee call” a week. You always hoped for hornets first, then wasps, then bees. In that order. One hornet or wasp sting was worse than one bee sting. But you almost never get stung by bees just once. That whole hive came after you.


For what it’s worth, those European hornets look monstrous. But actually they were quite nice in comparison.

[Mike Wagner]

Is this common? I get bitten by mosquitoes and pestered by gnats from time to time, but don't recall experiencing problems with bees on a golf course.


Link to full article:  https://www.aol.com/golf-course-employee-dies-being-173737428.html


Excerpts:


"A golf course employee died after being attacked by a swarm of bees in Arizona.
The incident happened in late June, near hole 8 at Pusch Ridge Course, part of El Conquistador Golf in Oro Valley, about 10 miles north of Tucson.
The groundskeeper, Rick Messina, was mowing in the area when he was stung, El Conquistador Golf said...
Someone called authorities about the incident at 7:17 a.m. on June 24, said Darren Wright, a spokesperson for the Oro Valley Police Department. Messina was taken to a local hospital and died three days later on June 27.
The day of the incident, beekeepers inspected all 45 golf holes on the property. The beekeepers found no hives nor bee activity and gave the property the all clear.
“It appears Rick was attacked by a traveling swarm of bees,” El Conquistador Golf said in its statement to USA TODAY.
Employee was ‘dedicated’ and ‘cherished’ at golf course
Messina was 57 years old and worked for El Conquistador Golf’s agronomy team since July 2022, the company told USA TODAY.

Just tragic.


It's a good thing to be aware of here in AZ. I've had to hit the deck more than once, and just knowing that the swarms can happen can be the difference between acting quickly and not. Sounds like power line noise and it quickly gets louder. The first one in the group to notice and hear hopefully yells hit the deck. It's a faint black cloud that travels a few feet above the ground and I've had it go right over me twice. Certainly rare you'd be in it's path, but it's possible and important to know you need to literally slam to the ground when it comes.

[Rick Sides]

I remember working maintenance one summer and one of our asst. superintendents was working in a bunker and got stung in the face by something . I’m not kidding saying his face looked like he just finished an mma fight swollen! Luckily a doctor was there to prescribe him
Meds.

[Forrest Richardson]

A very sad occurrence.

We did a full master plan for Pusch Ridge, creating “The Dirty Dozen” 12-hole layout. Never adopted, but would have been very cool. Greg Nash and Jeff Hardin designed this 9-hole, planning for a full 18 yet the developer sold off land and it remained an odd, tough as nails, 8-hole layout. Sort of an oddball. Hardin told me before he died that it would have been an awesome 18-holes.

The hole where this happened is near a rugged arroyo with natural desert cliffs and rock. My guess is that the swarm was holed up in the desert, yet near to water. My heart goes out to the family.

[Stewart Abramson]

It appears that this thread was foreshadowing of my round this morning.  I landed in a fairway bunker that was swarming with flying insects that my playing partners said were sand wasps. They were large and looked angry. With knowledge of the stories posted here, I dropped outside of the bunker far away from them.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

It appears that this thread was foreshadowing of my round this morning.  I landed in a fairway bunker that was swarming with flying insects that my playing partners said were sand wasps. They were large and looked angry. With knowledge of the stories posted here, I dropped outside of the bunker far away from them.

If they were sand wasps, you'd have probably been fine. They generally don't sting on purpose, I think only the females can…

There are a decent number of insects that look like bees or wasps to help ward off prey and protect themselves.

[Mark Kiely]

It appears that this thread was foreshadowing of my round this morning.  I landed in a fairway bunker that was swarming with flying insects that my playing partners said were sand wasps. They were large and looked angry. With knowledge of the stories posted here, I dropped outside of the bunker far away from them.

I was about to say good use of the rules, but then I looked up the rule and was surprised to learn it's a stroke penalty if you move a ball from in a bunker to outside of it due to dangerous animal conditions (16.2).


(Not posting this to accuse you of anything; more for my own surprise at the rule.)