By Summer Sobieski
Frontier has recently been dealing with a major issue. Many bee nests have been found both outside and inside the school. For the past few months, this has been a major concern for both students and teachers at Frontier.
These bees first became a major problem at the start of the school year. Many kids choose to have their lunch outside at the picnic tables since they may not feel comfortable sitting inside due to Covid or just like to get some fresh air and a break from their mask. These bees have made it extremely difficult for these students to sit down and have their lunch without being interrupted or having the fear of getting stung. I spoke with a few Frontier students and staff about the problem of bees and how they are impacted by them.
Miah McCoy was the first person I spoke with. She informed me that the bees were a major source of concern for her because she feels they are dangerous and that she can’t have a calm lunch without them bothering her. I asked her what she felt could be done to help with this problem, and she suggested that we hire someone to come to the school and exterminate the bees outside so that students may enjoy a more calm lunch without worrying about being stung.
I had spoken with Mr. Dredge earlier that month about the bees and asked if there was anything that could be done to solve the situation. He had told me that the bee problem this year was far worse than in previous years. He stated to me that because of the nest discovered in the media center, there are a lot more bees this year. When they saw the bees in the media center, they decided to pull off the ceiling, where they discovered a basketball-sized nest in the reading room’s corner. The reading room had a metal roof, which they liked since it kept them warm. In order to properly remove the nest, the school hired an exterminator. The exterminator used chemicals that didn’t work as well as others, such as raid, but they were the only kind the school was authorized to use. Mr. Dredge explained to me that the bees go on a feeding frenzy before hibernating at this time of year
In conclusion, there isn’t much that can be done about the bees outdoors, but the problem was largely solved by removing the nest from the media center, which was a major contributor to the problem. The bees will start to leave for the year once we have a few heavy frosts.