The hero beekeeper who saved world No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz from a painful ‘bee invasion’ stars in his own reality TV show. Lance Davis, also known as ‘King B’, is the protagonist in The Killer Bee Catcher. The 13 episode series follows the master beekeeper, who owns an aptly named ‘Killer Bee Live Removal’ business, protecting California residents from dangerous bees.
The 2023 series earned rave reviews, with Davis described as “one man bravely [standing] to protect the people, the planet… and the bees” as “hundreds of millions of deadly killer bees sweep across our nation”.
The hero of Indian Wells came to the rescue after thousands of bees swarmed the court during a quarter-final between Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
The game was strangely disrupted after countless bees flocked onto court one as Alcaraz attempted to serve. The score was tied at 1-1 in the opening set.
The Wimbledon champion was stung on the forehead and was seen squirming before running off the court away from the bees.
Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyahi then postponed the game for 90 minutes as a result of the ‘bee invasion’. The Swedish umpire was also seen removing bees as he made his way off the court.
Thousands of bees continued to flood the court during the extended break in play. However, play continued as normal on court two, where Coco Gauff dispatched Yue Yuan.
Davis was then called to help clear the bees and get the match restarted. With the bees ensconced across the spidercam – the TV camera which moves above the court on cables – the TV star vacuumed the insects from the camera and into a cage, amd they were later released.
Davis heroically cleared the bees without any gloves, and was seen speaking to the players alongside tournament officials at the net.
The beekeeper, who had to retrieve his truck from a repair shop before saving the day, was the talk of court one. Fans applauded and asked for selfies, much to the delight of the onlooking Alcaraz and Zverev.
After play resumed Alcaraz defeated his German opponent 6-3 6-1 to set up a semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner on Saturday.
After his victory, the world No. 2 said: “I saw some bees around, but I thought it was just a few of them. But I saw the sky and there were thousands flying, stuck in my hair, going to me.
“It was crazy. I tried to stay away from them, but it was impossible. I’m a little bit afraid of them. I had to stay safe, and I was running everywhere.”
The Spaniard will look to lift the Indian Wells trophy for the second consecutive year. Another win tomorrow will see Alcaraz facing either Tommy Paul or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.
