Close to 1 000 Queen’s College students had to abandon classes just after lunch yesterday when a swarm of over 25 000 bees invaded the Husbands, St James secondary school.
Principal Dr David Browne quickly cancelled classes as the bees swarmed, particularly around the two-storey science lab.
Deputy principal Juanita Wade and a number of senior teachers began to usher students to the front of the school to await their summoned parents and guardians.
The only persons who remained unperturbed were fourth and fifth formers who were sitting CXC history exams in the hall.
Within an hour bee specialist Rudy Gibson and his crew arrived to deal with the situation.
Gibson said that following the tragic death of a student a few years ago, all schools had been given a letter from the Ministry of Education to first summon him whenever bees were spotted on their premises. Â Â Â Â Â Â
Gibson said that it was normal around May in Barbados for bees to be swarming because with the oncoming hurricane season, bees would be leaving gullies and low-lying areas to find high ground. On climbing to the roof to assess the situation, he was shocked by the magnitude of the swarm.
Gibson stated that over 25 to 30 000 bees, which were more than one hive, had taken up residence under the galvanise roof.
The apiarist became even more concerned when he climbed down with a fistful of bees to show a dead queen, which he said was responsible for the disorientation of the bees buzzing around the school.
Gibson said that over four years ago he had removed a hive from the unfinished pavilion about 300 yards from the school and he suspected that this sub-hive had originated from that area. Â
He anticipated that after removing most of the bees and spraying the area to remove all scents of the queen, the remaining bees would return to the original hive.
