A swarm of bees sieged the lawn in front of Sid Richardson Hall around noon today, sending one person to a nearby hospital by EMS for an allergic reaction. It is unknown whether or not the person remains in emergency care.

Workers clearing fallen branches from this weekend’s heavy rains cut too close to where a beehive hung and caused the bees to swarm.

Paloma Diaz-Lobos, programs director and faculty liaison for the Latin American Studies Institute, saw the swarm from her office on the third floor of Sid Richardson Hall.

“I heard some screaming under my office window … and I looked and saw a girl running and screaming and she seemed completely out of herself,” Diaz-Lobos said. “To be honest, I thought she may have been attacked by someone.”

Diaz-Lobos said students, faculty and police officers were stung as they tried to control the situation.

“There were bees attacking us,” Diaz-Lobos said. “More people were coming up the hill and they all started screaming because they were being attacked.”

A beekeeper called in to tame the swarm captured the queen and removed part of the hive today and will return tomorrow to remove the remainder, said UTPD spokeswoman Cindy Posey.

Posey said the University is making sure to harm as few bees as possible in the process.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to protect the bees … while protecting the community,” Posey said.

Until the rest of the beehive is removed tomorrow, the area will be blocked off by police tape to protect students from what bees remain.