“Are you at home?” he asked. I said I was. “Stay there. Don’t come out and close all the windows and doors”. A swarm of bees was ravaging the area, starting at the restaurant next door, moved onto a bin lorry and then came here and terrorised all the people and animals.
Sadly the killer bees reduced the flock of geese from six to two terrified fowl. The corpse of the biggest goose was found in the garden where it fell, prostrate and perfect except for it being lifeless. Two surviving geese were being attended to by the gardener who was picking out the stingers from their heads and the other geese had apparently fled the area.
This was surprising as I didn’t realise they could actually fly. All they ever do it was around shitting, kiiling some smaller creatures and making a hell of a noise. I was pleased my favourite – the four tortoise and the solitary guinea fowl survived the attack physically if not psychologically unscathed. The dogs and cats were ushered inside but the staff suffered some painful stings.
I hid away for two hours before venturing out with a kikoy over my head. The swarm had moved on to trouble some other unfortunate householders and only few stragglers were left – being batted away with a broom and sprayed with Doom.
After the dust settled we have lost a handful of geese and several pigeons. All in all, considering the ferocity of the attack, it is not too bad and the geese which fled might come back when they get hungry.
I’m not very good with bees – I freak out if a single individual comes near me, flapping my arms and screaming so I am pleased I wasn’t caught up in this drama. African bees can very aggressive and can kill people. Thankfully this time, we seem to have got off lightly.