What Happened At Veterans Park With The Beehive Discovery?

A bunch of wild animals were loose at Washington City's Veteran's Park Monday afternoon.

Well, they were bees. And they did shut down the park for about 24 hours.

Devan Haws, foreman for the Heritage Hall reconstruction/restoration project in Washington City, adjacent to Veteran's Park, said he and his crew were working on the next phase of the Heritage Hall project, which included deconstructing and reconstructing the eaves of the hall.

Unfortunately, they ran into a slight delay when they discovered a beehive inside the eaves. And the more wood they pulled away from the eaves, the more beehive they discovered.

Call In A Pro

At one point Monday afternoon, Haws realized it was time to call in a professional beekeeper.

It was when the bees became very aggressive, even chasing him through the parking lot.

"I probably looked like a madman," Hawes said. "It's hard to take pictures when you're running for your life."

Haws made a few phone calls and immediately moved to shut down the park to protect any citizens from getting stung. As of early this afternoon, most of the beehive had been removed and the plan was to relocate the bees.

Park Closure

Plans were to reopen the park Tuesday afternoon once the threat was removed.

According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, approximately 3% of the adult population is allergic to bee stings. This translates to about 9 million people in the United States.

However, most of these allergies are mild and only cause swelling, rash and even itchy or watery eyes.

And contrary to popular belief, allergic reactions to bee stings are most common among beekeepers and others who have been stung a lot.

Almost all patients who are allergic to bees are beekeepers or their families, or sometimes their neighbors.

Death

However, in rare cases bee stings can cause anaphylactic shock.

Each year, 60 people in the United States die due to anaphylactic shock because of a bee sting. These preventable fatalities account for 20% of all anaphylactic-related deaths in the USA.

For more information, go to beeawareallergy.com.