Massachusetts Woman Released Bees On Police To Avoid Eviction

A Hadley woman is facing charges after she tried using bee hives to attack the Hampden County Sheriff's deputies.

According to a release from the Hampden County Sheriff's Department, on October 12th at around 9:15am. 55-year-old Rorie Susan Woods of Hadley pulled up to an ongoing eviction on Memory Lane in Longmeadow in a blue Nissan Xterra.

Woods left her dog in the car and immediately went to the bee hives she was towing with her SUV, and she tried to open the lids to the hives.

A sheriff's deputy tried to stop Woods, but she made the bees angry and they started to circle the area. Woods then managed to smash the lid of a hive box, and flipped it onto the flatbed, spilling bees out and making them angry and aggressive.

The bees swarmed the area, stinging officers, some of which are allergic, and some bystanders in the area watching the incident were stung as well. One officer had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for his stings.

Woods then put on a professional beekeeper suit to protect herself, then carried a "tower of bees" to the front door of the home to stop the eviction, which has been a stop-and-go problem for nearly two years.

At the front door of the home, she tried to agitate the bees some more - but she was arrested by Sheriff's deputies and booked into the Western Massachusetts Reginal Women’s Correctional Facility.

Here's the kicker: Officers have yet to figure out what her connection to the tenant of the home is.

Woods was released without bail and charged with the following:

• Assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (4 counts)
• Assault by means of a dangerous weapon (3 counts)
• Disorderly conduct

“Never in all my years of leading the Hampden County Sheriff’s Civil Process Division have I seen something like this,” stated Robert Hoffman, Chief Deputy of the Civil Process Office. “We truly try to help everyone we are court-ordered to evict and the New York Times even documented the Sheriff’s humane eviction process during the pandemic. I’m just thankful no one died because bee allergies are serious. I hope that these out-of-county protesters will reconsider using such extreme measures in the future because they will be charged and prosecuted.”

Get our free mobile app

Read more at WWLP