Phoenix metro · Local news coverage
Busy Bee in the News
When bee season turns dangerous in the Valley, Phoenix newsrooms call someone who works the hives that week. Our technicians have been on camera for 12 News, FOX 10 Phoenix, ABC15 Arizona and Cronkite News, explaining why a swarm turns defensive and what to do when one comes at you. Every segment below is collected here in full.
12 News
A landscaper was knocked unconscious. Our technician explained why this spring was worse.
On 21 April 2026, 12 News reported on a 70-year-old Phoenix landscaper who was left unconscious after a swarm attacked him while he worked. Firefighters hosed him down, and doctors pulled dozens of stingers out of his face, arms and legs.
Reporter Gabriella Bachara asked Busy Bee why the season had turned so aggressive. Evan Henderson explained that the colonies had bred straight through an unusually warm winter, so by spring the hives were larger, more crowded and far quicker to defend themselves. He also walked through what a person should actually do when bees come at them, which is to run, cover the face and get indoors rather than swat or freeze.
Read the full 12 News storyThey have been so nasty and it is because of all the over-brooding.
Evan Henderson, Busy Bee Pest Solutions, speaking to 12 News
FOX 10 Phoenix
Warm winter, early bees, and 70 calls in a day
FOX 10 Phoenix rode along on 3 April 2026 to see what the early bee season looked like from inside the suit. The crew found out the hard way: reporter Brian Webb was stung twice and photojournalist Brian Kae was stung three times, including on the face.
Busy Bee technician Chester McConnell talked through the approach on camera, from suiting up and coning off the area to keeping bystanders clear before anything else happens. At the time of filming the company was running roughly 70 calls a day across the Valley.
Read the full FOX 10 Phoenix storyMy plan of attack right now is to get suited up, get my gear on so I am safe.
Chester McConnell, Busy Bee Pest Solutions, speaking to FOX 10 Phoenix
ABC15 Arizona
How to prevent a bee attack, and how to get away from one
After two weeks in July 2025 that brought several attacks, multiple injuries and one death, ABC15 Arizona asked a local pest control company what ordinary people get wrong about bees.
The segment covers the practical side: the warning signs that a colony has moved in near your house, why disturbing a hive sets off a defensive response, and the fact that running in a straight line for shelter beats every other instinct people have in the moment.
Cronkite News
Why Arizona heat makes a hive more defensive
Cronkite News, the newsroom of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, looked at the same surge in April 2026 from the science side.
The report traces the chain: a warm winter lets queens keep laying, continuous laying produces bigger colonies, and bigger colonies defend a larger area more aggressively once the heat arrives. It is the clearest short explanation we have seen of why a hive that was ignorable last year is a genuine problem this year.
Bee or wasp problem right now
The crew the news calls is the crew that shows up
Live removal where conditions allow, full comb extraction, and repair recommendations so the colony does not come back to the same void. Most Phoenix metro calls get a same-day response during bee season.