A man in Southwest Miami-Dade was found dead early Tuesday near a colony of tens of thousands of bees, though it's unclear if his death was caused by stings from the bees.

Police identified the man as Jorge Luis Acosta, 61. Police said they could not say whether Acosta died from a heart attack, a fall or from bee stings. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner's office.

``[A] preliminary investigation revealed that a bee hive which was located on the roof may have been disturbed while the male was working,'' said Det. Lena Adams, a Miami-Dade police spokeswoman, in a written statement.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was called about 8 a.m. to the property in the 10800 block of Southwest 84th Street and found Acosta on the roof of the three-story apartment complex.

Capt. Jeffrey Fobb, who works with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit, said fire rescue workers found Acosta dressed in a partial protective bee suit about 50 feet from a ``large colony of bees that contained in his estimation 50,000 to 60,000 bees.''

``We all had to don full protective bee suits to secure the body,'' Fobb said.

The hive, which measured about three feet, was near the roof.

Acosta wore protective gear that covered his head and upper body, but not the rest of his body, said Fobb, who said authorities had not determined why the victim was working with the bees.

Neighbors told authorities they had been having problems with a beehive for the past 18 months, Fobb said.

An autopsy will be performed Wednesday, a spokesman for the medical examiner's office said.

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