Two persons who were attacked by bees in separate incidents on Monday afternoon at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, were treated at the Fort Wellington Hospital.
Ramdai Matadin, 62, was attacked in her yard at about 3.30 pm while 43-year-old Shiroon Phillips was stung at about 4.30 pm in the back-dam. Matadin said she was in her yard picking carilla when she heard the sound of bees buzzing but she did not see them. Her husband, Khemraj, 65, told her to “pick quick and run” but by the time she could get to safety she saw one of the bees and realized that a swarm had followed her.
The woman said she shouted to her two grandchildren to run upstairs and close the door while she ran out to the street with her son Sukraj. Matadin said her hands and face were swollen from the stings and she had vomited “a lot of green substance.” Her daughter, Tulsidai Malchand, 39, who ran to see what the commotion was about, was also attacked along with Sukraj and his wife, 32-year-old Wanita. They were treated at the hospital and sent away.
Matadin said the police had to be summoned to rescue her screaming grandchildren from the house. Relatives “made smoke” and eventually got rid of the bees, she said.
Phillips told Stabroek News (SN) that she had gone to the back-dam to fish with her sons Ryan and Bryan, a neighbour, Babsi, her brother-in-law and three children. They had also taken along their dog. She said while they were in the water “pulling the seines” the dog came running out of the bushes with a swarm of bees behind it. She said it appeared that it had disturbed a hive. Phillips said her relatives and neighbour submerged themselves in the water and told her to do the same but she cannot swim and when she tried to go under the water she almost drowned. The woman said the bees flew into her hair and when she tried to brush them off they attacked her hands.
SN understands that other residents in the area suffered bee attacks last week and a dog had died as a result. According to reports some students from the Lachmansingh Primary School in Bush Lot were also stung on their way home from lessons. They were treated at the hospital and sent away. (Shabna Ullah)
