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The bee whisperer: Uptick of bee stings prompt concerns

“The more scared you are,” he said, “the more on edge they get, because you breathe out that carbon dioxide and they don’t like that.”

ARLINGTON – It’s around noon and Aaron Garcia is working through lunch.

The second-generation beekeeper is at his second stop of the packed day with his mom, Christine.

He zips up his white protective suit and makes his way up the ladder.

There’s been a number of bee attacks lately, including last week when the Joshua Fire Department said a hive of "extremely aggressive" bees attacked several people.

Back in May, a woman was stung by bees hundreds of times while mowing her lawn in Corsicana.

When a bee attack makes headlines, Aaron’s phone rings.

He was called to this house in Arlington after a contractor spotted a bee hive under the eaves.

Bee attacks also leave people worrying if they’re Africanized bees – the honeybee’s aggressive cousin.

“When they bump into you, that’s just a warning,” he said. “But when they start with their stingers out that’s when you know they’re kinda more aggressive, they’re hybrids, they’re Africanized but we really haven’t seen that many.”

Africanized bees first appeared in Texas in the 1990s and are now present throughout the metroplex and beyond. The only way to know if they are Africanized is to do official testing.

Despite wearing protective gear, Aaron was stung a couple of times during the removal. As a rule, he said, honeybees aren’t usually aggressive. But if you do spot a hive, stay calm, he warned.

“The more scared you are,” he said, “the more on edge they get, because you breathe out that carbon dioxide and they don’t like that.”

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