An elderly Amanzimtoti woman has survived a frenzied attack by a swarm of bees in which she was stung  "thousands" of times, says Netcare 911's Chris Botha, himself a bee farmer. 

Botha said he'd received a call in the afternoon from a man in the Doonside area about a family being attacked by bees.

"As I also farm with bees, I packed the gear in the car and raced to the scene." Botha said on arrival he found fire fighters putting on their fire gear and breathing apparatus masks to protect them from the frantic swarm of bees.

He said the woman had sustained thousands of bees stings.

"When we went towards the patient, I found her grandson had run to her assistance and after putting granny on his back, he put a blanket around them. Within a few metres though, the man had also received a few hundred stings and had to sit down on the ground," he said.

Botha said the bees had stung the woman all over her body.

"We removed the patients to a safe area while fireman also kept a fine water spray on us to calm the bees. Once I got them to safety and was able to remove the blanket, I found the granny literally sustained thousands of bee stings," he said.

Botha said paramedics worked fervently to stabilise the critically ill patients before transporting then to a nearby hospital.

He said the bees were disturbed by children who threw stones at them after discovering the swarm in a tyre. The old woman had been passing by the area when they attacked.

News24