Bee swarm attacks three horses, two dead

"These horses were dying right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do about it."

Firefighters sprayed the swarm with a mix of foam and water, but it came too late to save two of the horses, who were covered in thousands of stings.

Fire Marshal Charlie Cook, of the Central Yavapai Fire District, in Prescott Valley, Arizona, described to Horsetalk how firefighters responded to the call on Monday.

Cook said the call came in around 4pm of three horses under attack from a bee swarm at Coyote Springs, on the fringe of Prescott Valley.

The fire station was just six or seven minutes away, but it was too late for the horses.

"When we got to the scene, thousands and thousands of bees were attacking these three horses.

"One of the firefighters said it was one of the worst calls he had ever been on. These horses were dying right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do about it."

Cook said huge welts were already visible on the horses when the fire crews arrived.

Firefighters went through 1500 gallons of water which was sprayed on the bees in a mixture with foam. The combination suffocates bees, he says.

A vet called to the scene euthanised two of the horses. A third was saved, but Cook said today he was uncertain how it was faring.

There were around 100 horses on the property, but the bees had only attacked three new horses introduced to the property.

"The bees never attacked the others," he said. "They are obviously territorial in a certain kind of way. The bees obviously knew they were new horses."

Cook said the owner of the property knew there had been bees living in the walls of the barn for several years, but they had never caused a problem.

A beekeeper was called and the walls were stripped to reveal a number of hives, the largest standing about 1.6 metres tall, 60 centimetres wide and about 12 centimetres deep.

Cook said the lesson to be learned was to call a beekeeper early when bees set up hives in an inappropriate place.

For a small fee the beekeepers will, where appropriate, relocate the bees to a more suitable environment, where they can be kept for their honey or to pollinate plants.

He said once the bees become a nuisance and fire crews are called, there is little choice but to kill them for safety reasons.

Cook noted there had been a lot of bee-related calls in Arizona this year.