That hits close to home. When I was in Tucson, one of my regular climbing and SAR partners was allergic to bee stings. He always carried an epipen.

I never encountered swarming bees like those mentioned in the article when I was in the area. Is this an Africanized strain?

Typical news coverage. They talk about Mt Hopkins, but show a picture of Elephant's Head, where most technical routes in the Santa Rita's are concentrated. I don't know of any technical climbing on Mt Hopkins. Doesn't mean the routes aren't there, of course.