Bees force school to close

At about 12:30 pm today classes were suspended at the Marlie Mount Primary School after some students complain of being stung by the insects.

In a bulletin to parents, school principal Calvin Harris said: “We are having a challenge with bees. We have noticed that there has been an increase in bee activity on the school compound. We have done our part in terms of dealing with the boxes that we have, but we have come to realize that there are other bee keepers in and around the area in close vicinity of the school and so we have swarms of bees coming on the [compound.].

“Students have been stung and we are not aware of those student who might be allergic and we do not want to have the challenges were children are affected gravely by being stung by bees.”

Old Harbour News understands that approximately 10 students reported that they were stung by bees. There were no complaints of students having any allergic reaction to the bees sting.

The school administration has contacted bee experts at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Apiculture Unit at the Bodles Research Centre to bring the situation under control.

Within minutes of being contacted a team of bee experts was dispatched to the school and is presently conducting an assessment.

Notwithstanding the threat of this invasion, Harris said the expectation is that normal operations will resume at seven o’clock Thursday morning.

Bees are highly beneficial to nature’s ecosystem both for animals and humans, however they can become more than just a nuisance around the home or workplace as in this particular case at Marlie Mount Primary.

According to several online literatures on bees control practices, this can be achieved by several methods such as fumigation, applying powder dust. Given the urgency required at the school now, the experts will decide what’s best to ensure classes resume the next day at the very least.

Short-term strategies to avoid a repeat of the situation must be considered going forward, however, the school authorities could consider growing bee-repellant plants on the compound, such as peppermint, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, citronella and cucumber.

Bees hate the smell of these plants, experts say.