Criminal Justice
‘You’re allergic? Good!’ Woman who released bees to protest eviction is sentenced to 6 months in jail
A beekeeper has been sentenced to six months in jail after using honeybees as a weapon against deputies in an eviction fall 2022.
Three and a half years ago, as sheriff’s deputies stood at the open double doors of a mansion in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, about to execute an eviction order, an SUV with a trailer carrying crates of beehives pulled into the semicircular driveway.
Rebecca Woods, the driver wearing a beekeeper’s suit, started releasing the bees to enjoy the “lovely flowering landscape” at the home of her friend, a man who “was almost 80 years old” and was a cancer patient, according to the New York Times.
A video posted by MassLive.com shows a Hampden County, Massachusetts, deputy saying, “Hey, hey, hey, she has a truck full of bees,” and another responding, “What?”
A tussle ensued, and Woods was thrown to the ground by two deputies. When some deputies stated that they were allergic to bees, according to the sheriff’s office, she replied “You’re allergic? Good!”
Several officers were stung on their heads and faces—with one requiring treatment at a hospital. Woods, now 59, admitted in a district court in Springfield, Massachusetts, this month that she released the bees to save the man from eviction.
Though the jury acquitted her of seven felonies, Woods was found guilty on four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault, She was sentenced to six months in county jail.
The New York Times and the Boston Globe have coverage.
Ultimately, her friend lost his home. Thousands of bees died in the encounter, according to the New York Times.
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