Rancher falls off tractor, dies after bee attack

RICHMOND -- Authorities believe bees attacked an area rancher, causing him to fall off a tractor and die over the weekend.

Ranch owner Bruce Harrison, 54, was found lying on the ground next to the tractor. He had spoken on the telephone an hour before being found, Jeannie Gage, a spokeswoman for the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, said Tuesday.

Gage said deputies were called to the 22530 block of Canal about 10 a.m. Saturday after a ranch foreman found Harrison dead.

"He was trying to get away or swat at the bees and fell off the tractor/shredder," Gage said.

The rancher had lacerations from the shredder and multiple bee stings.

Authorities did not find any bees around Harrison's body.

The preliminary autopsy report from the Galveston County medical examiner's office shows that Harrison died from hemorrhaging and that secondary causes were heart disease and multiple bee stings.

The incident is under investigation.

Last week, an East Texas logger died after he was stung hundreds of times by a swarm of bees.

Jeff Patton, 41, of Ratcliff, was logging May 25 near Centerville in Leon County when he was stung, Sheriff Mike Price said.