This story originally appeared in the second edition of The Lion’s Tale (Oct. 26, 2016). 

We should be able to throw our food away in peace during lunch. Instead, students struggle to get to class and eat lunch outside because of wasps and bees around the school.

The trash cans outside are infested with bees and the roofs of the covered walkways have hives spread out all over the school.

We all  know the feeling of the impending attack. You’re speed walking from second to third period, with a backpack heavier than your body and your emotions combined, there they are.

The bees. They are awaiting your arrival like a bully, about to plunge you headfirst into the dilapidated grey trashcans.

You try to completely bypass their congregation, hoping to not perturb the deadly beast.

Yet, they come, in full force. Buzzing at the crevice of your ear, consuming leftovers from yesterday’s lunch, the bees attack–and you’re defeated.

If you sit outside at lunch you have probably witnessed someone panic over a  bee; maybe you have even freaked out over a bee swarming around you.

The best thing to do is to just sit still, even if it lands on you. That’s a good way to avoid being stung.

When it comes to getting rid of the hives, swatting and running speedily from the source of stinging is what the average student resorts to.

Last year, I noticed the campus had a lot of bees at the same time of the year, before fall. According to Orkin.com, bees become active in warm weather, typically summer.

Assistant principal Drew Morgan said that there is not much the school can do to get rid of them, but that the staff does try to change out the trash can liners as much as possible, as the food that is collected in the trash cans is what attracts the bees.

Solution? Going to the superstore to the superstore and purchase wasp/bee killer. You can also make a home-made spray by mixing water and mild soap detergent into a spray bottle.

The custodians spray and knock down the wasp nests as they find them, according to Morgan. He said that the best thing students can do is let administration know where there are wasps nests so that administration can take care of the issue.

I do think we should get rid of most of the hives, but I don’t think we should get rid of all them, since bees are a benefit to the environment.

Bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering plant species worldwide, and the administration also recognizes this.

Schools of bees tend to crawl inside the trash cans. When people throw food away, the bees swarm all over.

Seriously, throwing food away shouldn’t be a problem.

In my opinion, an easy solution would be to have lids on the trash cans so the bees wouldn’t be able to have access to the food and will then not hover around the students.

I sit outside to eat my lunch, and one of the people at my lunch table got stung by a bee. She was disappointed but not surprised.

I don’t think anyone would be surprised, at this point.

Should we let the bees be? I don’t know.

Should we continue to panic frantically about our existence in their presence? Yes. We are high schoolers.

Are we overhyping the situation? Maybe.

The bees, just like the lion, are part of our culture. It’s an Oviedo thing.