“Oh, You’re Allergic? Good”: Beekeeper Jailed After Unleashing Swarm on Deputies at Eviction

Standing up for a buddy is one thing, but driving up to their eviction with a truckload of bees and opening the lid is quite something else. Rebecca Woods, a 59-year-old beekeeper from Massachusetts, chose the latter, and a district court in Springfield made sure she paid the price.

Woods was jailed for six months after she released swarms of honeybees on Hampden County Sheriff's deputies who had shown up to carry out an eviction at a friend's home in 2022, according to the New York Times.

The friend at the center of it all was no stranger to hardship. He was an elderly man in his 80s, undergoing cancer treatment, who had gone to a local library to look into filing a motion to halt the eviction while Woods drove the bees to his house. A noble cause, perhaps, but the execution felt straight out of a comic book.

Woods arrived at the property with hives stacked on a trailer hitched to her SUV, put on her beekeeper suit, and proceeded to lift the lid off one of the stacks. What happened next was, by all accounts, the stuff of nightmares for everyone except perhaps Woods herself.

Several officers were stung on their heads and faces, and one required hospital treatment. Nick Cocchi, the Hampden County sheriff, said of the incident, "This was unlike anything our team has ever experienced."

The bees did not escape unscathed either. Thousands of Woods' bees died during the encounter — many crushed when hives toppled as she wrestled with deputies trying to arrest her, and others because female honeybees die after delivering their sting.

She was told during the encounter that some deputies were allergic to bees. Her response? "Oh, you're allergic? Good."

In court, her defense told a softer story. Her lawyer, Mary Saldarelli, said that Woods had experienced evictions herself and wanted to protect people from predatory lenders who charged excessively high loan rates. The "Good" comment, Saldarelli argued, was "a reaction to having your face put down in the pavement and being shoved there and kept there."

As for the bees, Woods maintained they were simply there for the scenery — she insisted she had only released her trailer-load of hives to let the bees enjoy the "lovely, flowering landscape" near her friend's home. The court was not convinced.

A jury acquitted Woods of seven felony charges but convicted her on four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault. She has since filed an appeal. "She is not acquiescing in any way, shape, or form," Saldarelli said.

The Internet, as always, was split right down the middle. Some commenters said they appreciated Woods' intentions to help an elderly neighbor facing cancer treatment avoid losing his home. Others called the act violent — especially given that at least one deputy was reportedly allergic to bees.

In the end, good intentions were not enough to save the day or the home. Her friend lost the house in Longmeadow regardless. As for Woods, she is appealing her conviction. The bees, unfortunately, cannot.