TUCSON, Ariz.—The bees looked innocuous enough as a few dozen buzzed around the edge of a Spanish tile roof in a sleepy subdivision here recently.
But then pest remover Chris Brinton found a hole beneath the roof where a hive had been built. The colony contained as many as 20,000 Africanized honey bees—the kind that have been wreaking havoc in southern Arizona during what local experts call an unusually bad year for attacks on people.
"That's not no small problem," Mr. Brinton, clad in bee-keeping gear, called down as more than 100 bees guarding the hive went after him.
Bee Specialist Brinton Prepares to Remove Hive
Brinton Begins Hive Removal
So far this year, at least six incidents of people each being stung more than 50 times in apparent Africanized bee attacks have been reported in Tucson and Arizona rural areas, compared with two to four annually between 2009 and 2012, according to the University of Arizona's Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center.
Another 30 people have been victims of apparent Africanized bee attacks in the Phoenix area, said Frank LoVecchio, co-medical director of the Banner Good Samaritan Poison and Drug Information Center in Phoenix.
Some attacks have been horrific. On May 6, 55-year-old Steven Wallace Johnson of Tucson was found dead with hundreds of stings after being attacked by a bee swarm on his rope while traversing rocks in some mountains south of Tucson, according to local sheriff's deputies.
The attacks, while still considered rare, have unnerved Arizonans because many have occurred with little provocation. "It's a fear of, 'I'm walking around, minding my own business, and I'm attacked,' " said Mazda Shirazi, medical director of the university center.
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