SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio father is left with nowhere to turn for help after local companies refused to help with the infestation of bees that have been terrorizing a northwest side neighborhood for days.
After publishing the story online, Robert Stricker shared videos and photos with KSAT.com that shows massive clouds of bees buzzing around a tree in his front yard.
ORIGINAL STORY:Â Bees swarm NW side neighborhood
Stricker told KSAT.com that he's never noticed the bees until recently when landscaping crews cut the grass at nearby James L. Carson Elementary School just a few days ago.
The bee infestation was so bad that Stricker was left with no choice but to call the San Antonio Fire Department who responded to the 7700 block of Bent Branch Sunday after his son heard their dogs crying in pain from being stung.
“When they got here, they actually had to park down the street because they couldn’t see where they were coming from. They said they had never seen anything like this,” Stricker told KSAT.com.
Stricker said his daughter, who is among just a handful of people attacked by the bees, was stung about 15 times on Thursday.
“The bees actually attacked the people behind me and a few houses down from us -- it looked like a thick ball of bees,” Stricker told KSAT.com. “The firefighters had to break our fence to rescue the dogs by putting them in our pool room, hosing them down and then close it.”
Stricker said SAFD crews used soapy-water foam to hose down their house, yard and the bee-infested tree. The process took two to three hours.
However, just 30 minutes after leaving, the battalion chief called Stricker to warn him and his family that someone reported the bees were back.
“I called several bee-removal companies who said they wanted nothing to do with it after seeing pictures and videos I sent them,” Stricker told KSAT.com. “We called (311) because there’s an elementary school right next door.”
Stricker said he was told that the bees are Africanized honey bees that seem to be very aggressive when they feel threatened.
On Sunday, SAFD firefighters told Stricker that they believe the tree’s branches and trunk are hollow, implying that there may be more bees living inside.
Follow Adrian on Twitter | Like Adrian on Facebook
“It could all be filled with bees according to the bee (removal) companies and the fire department said they have never seen that many bees in one hive,” Stricker said.
Metro Health told KSAT.com that its vector team is currently investigating the location of the beehive.
"I dont wanna put the neighborhood in jeopardy but something has to be done because of the school," Stricker said.
Northside Independent School District did not return a request for comment by the time this report was published Monday night.