A hiker was taken to a hospital in critical condition after bees stung him more than 100 times on an Arizona mountain trail over the Easter weekend – an emergency which required the help of a helicopter crew.

The man reported “over 100 stings” had left him “unable to continue his descent” from the summit of Lookout Mountain Preserve in north Phoenix at about 10am on Saturday, the local fire department said in a statement.

Technical rescue teams from Phoenix and Glendale responded and coordinated a hoist operation to extract him from the mountain through an airlift in a Firebird 10 helicopter.

He was transferred to an awaiting ambulance at the trailhead and transported to the hospital in critical condition, the department said.

The fire department used the occasion to advise hikers to “avoid disturbing hives, skip scented products when outdoors, wear light-colored clothing, and if you encounter a swarm – run away quickly and protect your head and face”.

Dr Frank LoVecchio, a professor at Arizona State University, has said the venom from repeated bee stings effectively “crushes your muscle”.

He told Phoenix’s Fox 10 news channel that bees in Arizona are highly aggressive, and it is not uncommon for someone to be stung hundreds of times in a single incident.

Arizona has grappled with the problem of Africanized bees since their arrival in the 1990s – and even minor disturbances can spark swarms, endangering people, pets and livestock.

“It’s always about protecting the queen bee, protecting the hive,” LoVecchio said to Fox 10. “And it sends signals that the other bees come over and kind of attack you.”

LoVecchio reiterated the fire department’s advice, adding that if anyone encounters a bee colony: “Keep your mouth shut, cover your mouth and run as fast as you can.”

An unusually warm winter has caused bee activity to rise in Arizona, and Saturday’s case was the latest in a long line of such episodes.

In another recent instances, five people were stung, with one hospitalized, after a swarm disrupted a women’s lacrosse game at a university campus in Tempe.