An elderly woman was stung by over 1,000 bees in Palm Desert, California (near Los Angeles) and survived, ABC news reported.

She was overtaken by a swarm of 80,000 African Killer Bees sometime after their nest, located in an underground cable box, had been investigated/disturbed by a Verizon employee, according to ABC. Africanized honey bees, or "killer bees," are a mix between Western honey bees and African honey bees. They're more defensive than their pure European side, and have been known to take over Euro nests by killing the queen and inserting their own into power.

It's unclear from media reports how the unusually large swarm (average size is 3,000 to 5,000) mostly avoided the Verizon employee (who was also taken to the hospital for stings) and made its way to the unidentified woman, 71 -- who was either on the same property or a nearby one --, but when it reached her, she didn't have a chance.

"When the first engine company arrived, they described an elderly woman completely covered head to toe in bees, as if she was wearing a suit of bees," Battalion Chief Mark Williams told ABC. "They were even pulling stings out of her mouth."

"In 20 years I've never been on a case like this," Williams said, adding, however, that such incidents on a smaller scale are becoming more common. "In Southern California, we're starting to hear bees are becoming more prevalent in the area."

The first two firemen on the scene threw a blanket around her and loaded her into an ambulance to the hospital. They were stung in the process and joined her as patients. Several neighbors who stepped outside to watch the scene were also hit and subsequently treated, according to ABC.

According to Lance Davis, owner of the company, Killer Bee Live Removal, charged with relocating the hive to a safer area (a process that took several hours), the source of the problem was an improperly handled cable box.

"Somebody procrastinated and didn't take care of it the right way," said Davis, who will attempt to revive the transplanted hive by introducing a queen bee. "These are bee proof boxes -- the lid weighs 40 pounds. Whoever serviced the box prior, didn't put on the lid properly."

Little is known of the unidentified woman's condition besides reports that she will survive.