Angry bees attack Tampa city workers - WFLA-TV Newschannel 8

There was a stinging surprise near the entrance to Picnic Island Park in Port Tampa. Two Tampa city Parks and Recreation workers uncovered thousands of bees as they used a front-end loader to remove an old bench and a tire. "There was so many, that I don't know what to do. I freak out. The first time in two years I got afraid" said David Zeledon, one of those attacked.

Zeledon says, he and his partner Rodney Pugh ran for cover as the bees attacked. "I just run, and I screamed his name, Ronnie Ronnie run! and I run. But so many I fall twice" said Zeledon.

The men were loading debris into a pick-up truck. Hours after the attack, we found dead and slow-moving bees still crawling around. David ran into the woods, hoping the brush would knock off some of the stinging insects. Both headed for a nearby shed to use a hose to wash them off. "The whole thing was covered here. With bees? yes. And he was almost in the chest and the head. So I hosed it down" said Zeledon.  Each man picked bees and stingers off the other.

Bee removal company "Insect I-Q" sent an expert to remove the swarm.  "The colony was low to the ground in the tire, but also this is a fuel force, the colony is 25-30 feet the other direction. They have a horrible attitude. Highly defensive"  said Jason Deeringer of Insect I-Q.

He said the bees are likely "africanized" bees. When provoked, he says they fight back hard. "It's just in their genetics. They're just that mean. This was disturbed. It was picked up and agitated prior to us getting here."

David plans to spend his day off, relaxing.  But he won't forget his encounter with an angry swarm.

"I was expecting snakes, but never bees" he said.