Barely seven months after a 1,6 tonne tractor overturned onto an 84-year-old Mpumalanga farmer in June, he was attacked by a swarm of bees on 31 December. He miraculously survived both incidents.
By Joanie Bergh, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
On Wednesday, 31 December, Brian Whitehorn (84) was attacked by bees on his farm Paardeplaats, about 12km from Lydenburg, Mpumalanga, after surviving a tractor accident in June. He had also undergone surgery eight days earlier after a fall. “It’s really trauma on top of trauma,” says his wife, Gerda. “Our children are very worried about us, but I just want to tell them what a tough dad they have.
Brian is currently being treated in the intensive care unit of Kiaat Private Hospital in Mbombela, and Gerda is under observation at the same hospital. She and two of their farm workers, Lucas Nkuna and Veli Hlatswayo, were also attacked by the bees.
“I still can’t believe what happened,” she says. “Brian should have been dead, but it’s another miracle. You cannot describe to anyone what it feels like when those bees descend on you. They immediately dart down to your head and neck, and it feels like your whole body is on fire.”
Brian is still recovering from shoulder surgery. “On Wednesday, just after 12pm, I said we should go for a walk in the vegetable garden, just to get out of the house a little.”
The garden is about 50 m from their house, and next to the garden’s boundary fence is a beehive that has been there for about 10 years.
While they were walking in the garden with Lucas and Veli, a few bees flew towards Gerda and Lucas. “It wasn’t unusual. Sometimes you’d find one or two bees near you when you’re working in the garden,” she says.
But everything changed in the blink of an eye when the entire swarm poured out of the hive and descended on them. “It really looked like something out of a Jurassic Park movie. I suddenly had bees all over my head, stinging me. I immediately ran to an outside sink and put my head under the tap. “The whole sink was full of bees.”
Brian, however, was not so lucky. He couldn’t run, so he took cover under a bush and tried to bury his head under a rock, but the swarm would not relent.
“Brian was screaming the whole time. The workers and I tried to do what we could. At least they were okay because they were wearing overalls. I went into the house to get a blanket to throw over Brian, but we couldn’t get closer than 4m before the bees started attacking us again.”
Lucas was eventually able to throw a tarpaulin over Brian. Although it kept the rest of the swarm away, there were already thousands of bees under the tarp with him. “Brian couldn’t move; he was lying on his operated shoulder, and we couldn’t help him. I then realised that all we could do was get a garden hose to him and get help.”
Gerda ran to the house to phone their neighbours while standing under the shower with the taps running, as bees had also invaded the house. Their neighbours arrived within minutes, after calling the emergency services. “Some of our neighbours came in beekeeper overalls and sprayed the swarm with Peaceful Sleep.”
They were finally able to get a garden hose to Brian and lift the tarpaulin while spraying water. He then crawled out from under the bush on his knees. The Netcare 911 emergency service arrived shortly afterwards and rushed the couple to Lydenburg Hospital in Mashishing for treatment.
“They then wanted to fly us to Mbombela, but were worried that Brian would not survive the flight. After stabilising him, we were taken by ambulance to Kiaat Private Hospital,” Gerda says.
Also read: Minimising farm risks to prevent accidents
Tractor Accident
African Farming reported in June 2025 that Brian had been pinned under a tractor for hours following a freak accident while cutting grass on an embankment. The tractor overturned and landed on top of him. At the time, Brian described it as “a miracle” as he escaped with only a broken collarbone and a bruised arm.
“What a year!” Gerda says. The same neighbours who rushed to their aid during that incident also came to help on Wednesday.
Attacked for at Least an Hour
Gerda says she took a photo of Brian while they were walking to the garden just two minutes before the bee attack. She had already arranged for someone to remove the hive the following day, after which Brian remarked that the bees were good for the garden.
They are not sure what prompted the sudden aggression. It may have been the sunny, rainy weather, or grass that had been cut with a brush cutter near the hive the previous day. But nothing could have prepared them for the ferocity of the attack. It lasted for at least an hour.
Brian’s condition is being closely monitored for serious complications such as organ failure or kidney damage, and his wounds are being treated. Doctors told Gerda it was impossible to remove all the stingers from his body. As a result, the wounds can fester and become septic.
“Brian was still fine yesterday. I don’t know how he can still function. If I had been attacked like that, I wouldn’t be able to handle it,” says Gerda, who herself is still removing stingers from her head and neck. “I’ll feel something like a scratch, then I realise it’s a sting. I think because I also have more hair than Brian, it didn’t hurt as much.”
She says Brian slipped in their house at the end of October and torn his shoulder muscles, for which he was operated on on 8 December. “I had a similar operation in January, and the recovery process is incredibly painful.
“When you talk to him, he just concentrates on getting through this. And all he will say is that, just like with the tractor accident, it was once again the hand of the Lord that carried him through everything.”
What the Experts Say
Mike Allsopp, a honeybee researcher at the the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), says it is extremely rare for a colony to live quietly for years and then suddenly attack without prior disturbance.
“In many cases, people don’t know what the disturbance was. It could have been someone bumping the hive slightly, a dog nearby, someone trying to open the hive at night, or grass being mown nearby – even 100m away,” he says. “Usually, it is innocent people who are attacked.”
He adds that even a tractor driving past could trigger aggression, as bees are sensitive to vibrations. “When they attack, the only thing you can do is get away as quickly as possible and put distance between you and the bees. If you try to hide, it won’t stop them from stinging you. Once they start, they don’t stop.”
Jaco Wolfaardt, a commercial beekeeper in Swellendam, says the hive was probably full of honey, which makes bees more defensive. “Then if one stings you, it releases a scent that the others react to – and then it’s chaos.”
He says something like a bush cutter or the smell of petrol could also trigger an attack. “They then wait for movement, and when they attack, they can target anyone – including animals – within a radius of 200m–300m around your home and neighbouring properties.”
Allsopp says African honeybees usually give a warning. “They are unique in that they fly towards your forehead as a warning. It means, ‘Go away.’ If you don’t heed it, they are ready to sting within 10 seconds. And the only time they stop is when you are dead.”
Also read: Good management essential in beekeeping
