Attacks by the killer African bees are on the
rise along the Guyana coast and residents are appealing to the
authorities to go after the swarms before the situation
worsens.
African bees
An East Bank Demerara farmer died
earlier this month after the bees attacked eight persons in
the village back lands, and two residents of Bath Settlement,
West Coast Berbice, were hospitalised Monday after the latest
attacks.
Ramdai Matadin, 62, was among five family members
attacked by the bees in their yard at Centre Street, Bath,
around 15:00h Monday.
The others were treated and sent home but she was kept
in the Fort
Wellington Hospital,
West Coast Berbice, for observation. Her condition was
reported stable yesterday.
Shiroon Phillips, of Waterloo Street, Bath, two of her
children, an adult neighbour and three others were fishing in
a trench aback the village around the same time Monday when
another set of bees attacked.
The woman said she nearly drowned in the trench because
she attempted to stay under the surface but ended up
swallowing water.
She eventually jumped out of the trench and ran along a
dam and the bees followed her, entangling themselves in her
hair and stinging her on the face, neck and shoulders as she
tried to escape from them.
She said she eventually fell to the ground and the bees
continued stinging her before flying off.
The others with her were treated and sent away but she
was kept in the Fort Wellington Hospital pending observation
and was expected to be discharged yesterday.
Matadin said bees also stung and killed a dog in the
village last week.
She said that as far as she knew, up to yesterday
morning the bees were still in the
neighbourhood.
She hoped that action would be taken to remove the
vicious insects which had apparently set up a colony or
colonies in various parts of the village.
The bees stung and killed two dogs In Liliendaal, East
Coast Demerara last week and there have been reports of other
dangerous attacks on people and animals as far west as the
Essequibo Coast.
In the Friendship, East Bank Demerara attack, Abdool
Hamied also known as 'Dool', 49, of Lot 6 Public Road,
Friendship, died earlier this month as he was being taken to
the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Hamied, his son, Tariq and six workers were attacked by
the bees in Hamied's farm.
Tariq told this newspaper they were working when the
swarm attacked and while he and the others ran away, his
father was not able to keep up because of his age.
