Its interesting to see how bees are portrayed in the media. As someone who is researching the environmental and economic benefit of bees, it is startling to see bees getting a bad rap. These articles are from the last two days and show extreme examples of what can happen when humans come into contact with these insects.

Both bee “attacks” occurred in California. The first, in Palm Desert, details the account of a 71 year old woman who was stung over one thousand times when bees attacked her in her car. The second article, from La Canada Flintridge, details the account of two motorists who were reportedly stung 600 times together after colliding with a tree. These examples can turn public sentiment away from a dwindling, ecological resource. A quote from the LA Times says “Hopefully they are gone for good.” This is frightening because without public awareness as to the benefit of bees, humans will lose a huge contribution from the animal kingdom.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-killer-bee-attack-woman-20140310,0,1774119.story#axzz2vcHSabDW

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/03/09/car-crash-into-tree-touches-of-major-bee-attack-in-la-canada-flintridge/