Mrs Honeycombe stung more than 60 times by swarm of ‘angry’ bees | UK News

A woman named Mrs Honeycombe was admitted to hospital after being stung dozens of times by a swarm of ‘angry’ bees.

Caroline Honeycombe, her sister Jo Dawson and Jo’s eight-year-old daughter were attacked while walking their horses on a hilltop in St Ouen, Jersey.

She was stung more than 60 times and needed to be put on a drip after going to A&E, with her niece also requiring treatment for multiple stings around her head.

The other horses bolted in a panic, but Mrs Honeycombe’s pony, Blue, was stung around 80 times and also needed emergency treatment from a vet.

The attack happened when a beekeeper was opening hives – thought to contain around a million bees – nearby to check on the honey in the combs.

Caroline’s father, St Ouen Constable Richard Honeycombe, said the parish had closed Mont Huelin on Wednesday night and the winding hill road would not re-open until Saturday.

This was to give the beekeeper, Nick Faulkner, ample time to move the hives, he said.

He added: ‘I’m not sure where the nine hives are moving to, but I’ve been told it has to be at least three miles away, otherwise the bees could return to the original spot.

‘Mr Faulkner came around on Tuesday evening with some jars of honey. He was terribly apologetic and could not have been nicer. He also said he would happily cover any expenses we’d faced.

‘Jo’s face has gone down and Caroline is feeling much better, as is my granddaughter.

‘The care at A&E was exemplary and I will be writing to the Health Minister to pass on my sincere thanks. The team there was amazing.’

After recovering from the ordeal, Caroline said her horse Blue was ‘screaming in pain’ on the ground and she was desperately trying to fight off the bees.

‘It was like being in the middle of a beehive. They were so angry,’ she said.

‘The other ponies panicked and ran off, which at least put them out of harm’s way. My horse kept trying to lie down. I was screaming and my horse was jumping all over the place.

‘I have ridden racehorses so fortunately I wasn’t thrown. The beekeeper was there and told us to move away but Blue didn’t want to.

‘To be fair, he was very helpful. He grabbed one of the reins and if he had not been there, I think we might have lost the horse altogether.’

Eventually, Caroline said she managed to crawl away but was in agony and could see Blue was clearly in distress.

Her little niece had been stung about a dozen times around the head, and they both went to A&E.

Caroline’s sister Jo said her daughter was now ‘fine physically but felt exhausted and remained emotional about the experience’.

It is not the first time that bees from the cluster of hives on Mont Huelin, which runs from L’Etacq to Route de la Villaise, have attacked people and animals.

One possible reason for Monday’s attack was that the beekeeper was removing honey from the hives – which makes bees naturally aggressive – and they spotted the dark-coloured horses.

Bees are ‘programmed’ to defend against dark-coloured animals, such as bears and badgers, which steal their honey in the wild.

A dark dog will tend to get stung more than a paler one.

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