Never get on the wrong side of a beekeeper. A group of Sheriff’s Deputies learned this important lesson when they arrived to evict an elderly man in his 80s who was suffering from cancer. His friend, 59-year-old Rebecca Woods, decided that this injustice would not stand and has just been jailed for six months for delivering bee-related vengeance.
Woods arrived at her friend’s property in Springfield, Massachusetts, in her beekeeper’s suit, and the deputies carrying out the eviction anxiously realized “she’s got a truckful of bees!” She then freed the bees, with the cops reacting in horror as her insectoid minions swarmed them, causing them to frantically wave their arms in a futile defense against being stung.
As the Hampden County sheriff later explained, the 2022 incident “was unlike anything our team has ever experienced.”
The 59-year-old housing advocate was attempting to protect a friend's home.https://t.co/4vDRWTfcz1
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) April 28, 2026
During the incident, Woods was told that some of the deputies were allergic, replying “Oh, you’re allergic? Good!” Several cops were indeed stung, one required hospital treatment, and, tragically, many bees gave their lives. Wood was arrested but insisted that she’d only opened the hives so that her bees could enjoy a “lovely, flowering landscape” in the vicinity of her friend’s home.
The Pain! The Paaaaain!
In a more just world those sheriff deputies and the landlord would be given the bee helmet. Not honeybees though, they’re too valuable. Yellow Jackets. https://t.co/gya2VDAj8e pic.twitter.com/BStXTVGfcI
— Scott (@disorderlyswine) April 28, 2026
Woods later admitted that she’d brought the bees to defend her friend, with her defense lawyer Mary Saldarelli explaining that she’d personally experienced being evicted and had set herself a mission to protect people from predatory mortgage lenders charging extortionate rates. So, a bit like Ant-Man, but with bees.
Saldarelli underlined:
“It really was just a sincere hope that he would not suffer the humiliation and devastation of going through an eviction, of losing your home.”
The jury clearly had a lot of sympathy for Woods. The incident saw her charged with seven felonies, potentially facing many years in prison. They acquitted her of the felony charges but found her guilty of four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault.
Her friend was eventually evicted, perhaps proving that no amount of bees can stop the inexorable machine of unfeeling bureaucracy.
Woods still insists she’s innocent and plans to appeal, with her lawyer underlining that she’s “not acquiescing in any way, shape or form”. We can argue about the morality and ethics of using bees to enact civil justice until the cows come home, but while we can quibble about her methods, it’s clear her heart was in the right place.
