Those of you who eat lunch outside know what we’re about to get into. While students eat outside at lunch, they will usually be viciously (keyword: viciously) attacked by a group of bees. This usually causes students to freak out. Will my food and I ever be safe again? We interviewed Mr. Smiley on the topic, and hopefully, we’ll finally put an end to this Bee-pocalypse once and for all!

For those of you wanting a real quick solution, Mr. Smiley has the perfect one: “I think the #1 solution to the problem with the bees is that if you are a student that doesn’t like bees… at lunch, don’t eat outside.” If you have a problem with bees, like they bother you or you’re allergic to bee stings, your best bet is to eat inside. As of September 28, 2021 (the date of the interview), there has only been one bee sting at West this year, but you might not want to try your luck. According to Mr. Smiley, “There are always options to eat inside. There’s a ton of room, the stage, cafeteria, tables, you do not need to be out there.”

If you do eat outside, you probably might want to be careful about what you’re eating. “I think there are certain foods that bees are more attracted to, so if you have a bunch of fruit (such as fruit cups), bees love those,” Mr. Smiley stated, “So if you have certain foods, maybe eating inside would be a good idea also.” Fruit cups are a blessing to all, so if you really want to eat your fruit cup at lunch, do yourself a favor and eat it inside.

Finally, don’t sit near the big, green trash cans outside. “One of the things we do is we change the garbage out between lunches because bees smell all that garbage, and they go to the garbage. So, if you’re sitting right there (near the trash cans) there’s always a lot of bees around.” Also, please do not throw anything in the trash can out in front of the school. That attracts a ton of bees after a while, so the bees won’t just be terrorizing students at lunch, but in the morning and afternoon, too.

We really hope you take our advice seriously. Bee stings are horrible and no one wants to deal with all that jazz (pun intended). So stay safe, don’t freak out around bees, and eat your fruit cups inside. Also, stay in school and do your homework.