Tyler

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

Tyler Animal Control officers investigated the site where three teenage girls were stung multiple times Wednesday afternoon and discovered a nest of bumblebees, not Africanized bees, said Animal Control Director Shawn Markmann.

"Everybody thinks that when bees attack people they must be the Africanized killer bee," Markmann said, with an emphasis on "killer." Bees "are territorial animals and any interaction with bees should be cautious interaction."

Markmann described the bees as typical bumblebees, black with yellow stripes circling their relatively larger bodies.

One of the teens helped officers find the location of the attack, near Bell Elementary, when they were unable to locate a nest or swarm in the area first described. The girls were playing in a wooded area near a residence and wandered into a nest of ground-dwelling bumblebees, Mark-mann said.

Markmann said the girls were playing in a stand of bamboo trees when one of teens felt something crawling on her.

"Their reaction was making noise and flapping arms," he said.

That sounds like the general scenario that would be associated with bumblebee attacks, said East Texas Beekeeper Association President Dick Counts.

Bumblebees are not normally aggressive unless they are disturbed, he said. Most incidents occur when someone is mowing a lawn or field.

Although both Markmann and Counts doubted the initial reports that Africanized bees were to blame County Extension Agent Brian Triplett said he would not doubt if the species was present in Smith County. He said the state ended its monitoring program in 2004 and experts assume Africanized bees are in every county, Triplett said.

Africanized bees were never trapped in Smith County during the tracking program, but they were found in Henderson, Gregg and Harrison Counties, Triplett said.

The teens, ages 13, 14 and 15, were taken to East Texas Medical Center's Emergency Room, treated for numerous bee stings and released. Counts said it was a good thing that the girls did not suffer allergic reactions to the stings.

Animal Control has attempted to contact the homeowner where the nest resides to determine whether the bees will be exterminated or allowed to stay. It is the owner's decision, according to Markmann.

Markmann said the girls wandered into "the wrong place at the wrong time" and that parents should be aware of the surroundings in which their children play. He said other animals that normally avoid interaction with humans, such as snakes, can attack whether provoked accidentally or intentionally and parents should educate their children accordingly.

He gave some advice as to what a person should do if they encounter an agitated swarm of bees in the future.

"First thing, run," he said. "Second thing, run faster, get away from them. Seek shelter."