Killer Bee's Successfully remove elderly Man from Home during traditional ceremony

I read an article today about an elderly man who died during an attempt to chase away African Killer Bees in a traditional manner.

The Tradition is two parts.

1. Brew up some Beer and drink it
2. Talk to the the African Killer Bees (The Ancestors will be lured to the beer and chase the bees away)

The thing is no one told the bees that this might actually work. Unfortunately the Killer bees utilized their traditional means of removing a person from their abode.

They stung him to death. (2006 Darwin Award Nomination Pending)

Article excerpts below
IOL: Elderly man died when bee ceremony went wrong: "An elderly man who was stung to death bees at a village near Butterworth at the weekend was probably taking part in a cultural ceremony to remove dangerous African honey bees.

Eastern Cape police said on Monday that Victor Ndoda Nyembezi, 73, had been part of a group of about 100 people who were trying to remove a hive from a homestead in Mgomanzi village on Friday.

'The old man had attended a traditional ceremony in one of the homesteads where the bees were to be chased away traditionally,' said police spokesperson Captain Jackson Manatha.

He said the bees attacked and everyone fled, but Nyembezi was unable to run and was stung to death.



Culpable homicide docket
Police opened a culpable homicide docket.

Eastern Cape health department spokesman Mzukisi Ndara said on Monday that he thought the case was 'not common' in the province.

A cultural expert confirmed such ceremonies exist and a bee expert warned that the bees are dangerous.

Professor Peter Mtuze of Rhodes University in Grahamstown said that traditional Xhosa ceremonies to move bees took place in the Eastern Cape.

Mtuze, who is the university's deputy registrar and has an interest in Xhosa culture as the former head of the university's African languages department, said such ceremonies were usually to remove bees from homes or buildings where they might be a problem, rather than to take the honey.

'It is a vicious bee'
He did not think such ceremonies were common and he had not heard of people involved in them being attacked.

'You've got to hold a ceremony to appease the ancestors so the bees will go away peacefully,' said Mtuze.

He said the ceremony would be arranged by the head "