INDIO, USA. (AP) — Killer bees swarmed a gardener and homeowner in the Southern California desert, stinging them dozens of times.

The man and woman are hospitalised.

The gardener was stung 80 times, and the woman has more than 100 bee stings.

The Desert Sun of Palm Springs report that the gardener was trimming a palm tree outside an Indio home yesterday when he disturbed a hive of Africanised honey bees in the tree's trunk.

Firefighters called to the home found the pair on the ground covered with bees.

Bee populations peak in July, with colonies going from about 10,000 bees in the winter to as many as 45,000 bees.

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