Officials renew attack on bees that stung 95-year-old man

Authorities were preparing Thursday for what they expected and hoped would be a final -- and fatal --assault on a hive of bees that on Wednesday chased away an exterminator, attacked responding firefighters and stung a 95-year-old bystander repeatedly.

Louis Todero was walking in the 1700-block of Ruxton Lane in Redondo Beach when thousands of bees attacked him, apparently stinging him hundreds of times.

“He’s in the hospital but he’s doing fine,” said Redondo Beach Police  Sgt Phil Keenan. “He definitely had a decent immunity for bees. I’m not sure I would have survived.”

This time, the outcome is expected to be different.

First of all, a different exterminator is waiting until the evening when bees are less energized. Four police officers have been assigned to go door to door to warn people to stay inside and close all doors and windows. The street will be blocked off as well. And there will be immediate treatment for anyone who is attacked.

The target will be a two-story apartment building, occupied by a sizeable hive that could stretch from the roofing structure into the walls. The exterminator will work from the roof and the operation, if all goes as expected, should be swifter than the time it takes to warn people to stay safely out of reach, Keenan said.

It is “probable,” officials said, but not immediately confirmed whether the hive was home to the so-called Africanized bees that are known for responding aggressively when disturbed or threatened.

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-- Howard Blume

Photo: A sign is posted in a Redondo Beach neighborhood where a 95-year-old man was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after being attacked by a swarm of bees. Credit: Christina House/For The Times