A Franklin man was hospitalized Thursday after being stung more than 30 times when he accidentally knocked over a couch cushion on his porch and unleashed a hidden beehive underneath. Medics rushed him to the hospital after his blood pressure dropped dangerously low, and doctors later removed 30 stingers from his body.
The man was trying to plug in a security camera when he knocked over the cushion, according to WISN. A beehive had been built underneath the couch cushions, hidden between two yellow cushions on the porch, and the disturbance sent the colony into a defensive frenzy. Per a woman living at the home, his blood pressure fell to dangerous levels as the attack unfolded, and he grabbed a yard hose in a desperate attempt to knock the insects off himself.
The Franklin Fire Department said the man was attacked by over 100 bees, the station's report notes, before medics arrived and transported him to a hospital. Hospital staff removed all 30 stingers, and Nate Jaskulski described hospital treatment as the safe call given how many stings he sustained.
Pest Control Called the Hiding Spot Unusual
Nate Jaskulski, who works for Advanced Wildlife and Pest Control, responded to remove the beehive from the Franklin property. He said finding a beehive built into porch couch cushions is not very common, a placement that surprised even someone used to dealing with stinging insects.
Jaskulski advised homeowners to watch for bees flying around a home's siding, noting that such activity often indicates a hive has already been established nearby. He recommended using bee or wasp killer on visible activity and contacting an exterminator if a bee problem persists. He also said bee activity has been more frequent in the area compared to previous years, and suggested that hot and dry conditions followed by bursts of water and moisture may have caused bees to abandon locations where they had already established homes, pushing them toward new, sometimes unexpected, nesting spots like porch furniture.
Why Late Summer Brings the Worst Stings
The timing lines up with entomological patterns across the region. Entomologists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison note that late summer and early autumn mark the peak season for social stinging insects in the state, when single-queen colonies swell to their maximum population of over 3,000 active foraging workers, according to UW–Madison News. Yellowjackets and paper wasps can nest in hidden outdoor cavities and wall voids, and their activity often increases in late summer.
Poison Control guidance explains why a single disturbed nest can turn into an attack by over 100 insects: when a female honeybee stings, she releases an alarm pheromone that alerts and recruits other nearby hive members, triggering a rapid swarm response. That mechanism, detailed by Poison Control, helps explain how one knocked-over cushion escalated into a mass envenomation event rather than an isolated sting.
The Medical Stakes of Mass Stings
A severe allergic reaction to insect venom, known as anaphylaxis, can develop within minutes of a sting and trigger a rapid, life-threatening drop in blood pressure alongside narrowed airways, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although anaphylaxis can cause a rapid, life-threatening drop in blood pressure, the report did not diagnose anaphylaxis or identify the cause of the man's dangerously low blood pressure. Harvard Medical School publications note that prompt epinephrine is first-line treatment for anaphylaxis.
Even without an allergy, a high volume of stings carries its own danger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service notes that non-allergic adults can generally tolerate approximately 10 stings per pound of body weight before direct venom toxicity becomes lethal, meaning mass attacks like this one pose systemic risks independent of allergy status. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology estimates that 1.6% to 5.1% of the U.S. population has experienced life-threatening allergic reactions to insect stings.
Nationally, the danger is far from rare. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows hornet, wasp, and bee stings caused 788 deaths in the United States between 2011 and 2021, an average of 72 deaths per year, with males accounting for 84% of fatalities.
What to Do if You Find a Hidden Hive
Pest control guidance also addresses the practical question raised by an attack this severe: what kind of insect was actually involved. Yellowjackets have smooth stingers that let a single insect sting a victim repeatedly, whereas honeybees have barbed stingers that detach after just one sting, which is part of why doctors were able to remove 30 distinct stingers from the man's body.
For anyone who disturbs a hive and gets stung, Poison Control favors scraping away embedded stingers rather than trying to remove them with fingers, which can be clumsy extraction tools, and says there is no solid scientific evidence that tweezers inject more venom. Even a mildly allergic person may struggle in a mass-sting scenario, since each sting injects a small amount of venom that adds up quickly across dozens of hits. Jaskulski's advice for homeowners boils down to vigilance: watch the siding, treat visible activity early, and call in a professional exterminator before a hidden nest turns into a five-alarm emergency.
