[Ammi]

A hive of 40,000 Africanised honey bees, known as "killer bees", have killed a Central Texas man and hurt a woman who came to his aid.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reported that Larry Goodwin was attacked as he drove a tractor on a neighbour's land in Moody, about 26 miles (41km) south of Waco.

The 62-year-old ran to a house about 50 yards (46 metres) away and tried to use a garden hose to ward off the swarm, according to McLennan County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Cawthon.

A woman came out to help and was also stung. Mr Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene.

"If anybody has any brush or anything on their lands please clear it because they don't want to go through this. Nobody needs to go through this,' Mr Goodwin's tearful daughter Tanya told KCEN-TV.

Allen Miller, owner of Bee Be Gone, who later destroyed the hive, said the farmer apparently hit a pile of wood that housed a hive.

He estimated it contained about 40,000 Africanised bees.

"You can't believe how bad they are. They make me want to get out of this business," Mr Miller said.

"They can get up under your clothes where no other insect can go. In a hive of ordinary European bees, about 10% will attack if the hive is threatened, but with African bees, all of them attack you."

African bees were taken to Brazil in the 1950s. Some escaped and cross bred with European bees, first in Latin America and then the southern United States.