Kim Bammes' Labrador-mix Reggie didn't stand a chance against a swarm of bees. On Father's Day she and her 8-year-old son found the dog as he lay dying.
"It took down my dog, we had to rush him to the hospital," said Bammes'. "He was attacked by bees, hundreds of bee stings."
In May Bammes discovered a small hive attached to their guest house and called an exterminator. But there was a problem; the main hive was not on their property but in a neighbor's tree.
"The exterminator said you have to get rid of the bees and chop the tree down because the scent is still in the tree," said Bammes. "They'll keep coming back."
Even though the neighbors cut down the tree they did not remove the problem or exterminate the bees. Some of the bees have taken refuge in a palm tree in the Bammes' yard.
Bammes says the top of the tree was tossed into the backyard and covered with a tarp. The very next day, the bees attacked her dog.
It seems that no one is safe in the neighborhood.
"We had a party and we were in the pool and they were attacking us," said neighbor Veronica Sotelo. "We would go under water and come up then they would be all over us."
Unable to resolve the issue with her neighbor, Bammes turned to the authorities.
"I called the city, the county, called the fire department, called the police station, called everybody and they would do nothing," said Bammes.
Now every time she or her family goes outside, they are watching out or listening for the ever-present bees.
The city manager of Wildomar says the city does not intervene on private property issues and if the bee problem was on public property, the city would step in.
