A Massachusetts beekeeper was sentenced to six months in jail after she unleashed thousands of bees on Hampden County sheriff’s deputies during a court-ordered eviction.
Rebecca Rorie Woods, 59, of Hadley, was convicted April 2026 in Springfield District Court of four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault. A jury cleared her of seven felony charges.
The incident happened on Oct. 12, 2022, at a home on Memery Lane in Longmeadow. Deputies arrived to evict an elderly resident nearly 80 years old who was undergoing cancer treatment. Woods, a friend of the resident who did not live there, pulled up in a blue SUV towing a trailer stacked with beehives.
Video released by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office shows Woods opening the hives while wearing a beekeeper suit. Deputies tried to stop her, but hundreds of agitated bees swarmed the scene. Several officers and staff members were stung; one was hospitalized. Authorities testified that Woods was warned some deputies were allergic and replied, “Oh, you’re allergic? Good.”
Sheriff Nick Cocchi called the act “unlike anything our team has ever experienced,” adding that deputies were carrying out a lawful court order when they faced a deliberate threat to their safety.
Woods, who had fled to Tennessee before her trial and was later extradited, had already spent months in custody. She is appealing the conviction. The case drew attention from housing advocates who viewed Woods as supporting the elderly resident facing eviction.
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Video released by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office shows Woods opening the hives while wearing a beekeeper suit.
Video released by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office shows Woods opening the hives while wearing a beekeeper suit.
