Bee careful out there

I was so looking forward to a great 4th of July weekend. My son and I planned an early morning fishing trip to Cherokee Lake this morning. We got up at 6:30 and headed down the road. It was a wonderful morning, kind of cool and beautiful outside. We pulled into the entrance of one of my very favorite places, Grainger County Park, and noticed several boaters already there. We found a place to park and walked toward the lake.

TVA has the lake levels at Cherokee all the way to full. While this is great for boaters, it's not so great for bank fishers. We had to walk quite a distance to find a spot where we could get close enough to the water to fish. We only had about 5-foot of bank to stand on. We tied our lures on to our lines and began casting. I suppose we had been there about 15 minutes and I was making my way around the water's edge looking for the perfect spot to cast. As I was standing there, something landed on my nose. I swatted at it, thinking it was a horsefly. That was my first mistake. The next thing I knew, something came around and stung me on the back of the head. I swatted around at it. Suddenly a half a dozen bees were upon me. I dropped my fishing rod and began running. I saw my son walking toward me and I began yelling, "Matthew, stay away!" The bees kept stinging me. I slapped at my head and knocked my glasses onto the ground. I was running blindly trying to get away. I was in such a panic that I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do when getting attacked by bees. All I could think of was stop, drop, and roll. I dropped on the ground and began rolling around. They just kept coming. I ran up the bank and hit the grass with my face down. The pain was unreal as the bees unrelentlessly stung me in the ears and the back of the head.

I don't know how long it lasted, I'm sure just a couple of minutes but it felt like an eternity. I just remember worrying about my son and hoping the bees didn't turn on him. Finally the stinging ceased and I sat up. There were some folks walking around the walking trail that had seen the attack and they stopped to check on me. A very nice lady asked me if I needed water or a phone to call someone. One man was saying something about where he came from in Mexico, they had killer bees. I don't know if he was trying to comfort me or what...

I remained sititng in the grass for a long time waiting to retrieve my fishing stuff, glasses, and cell phone that was still on the ground near the spot where I was first attacked. I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to watch over me while I went back down there. Thankfully, He did. I hated to leave the lake and ruin our fishing trip but my head and ears were stinging really bad and I had chills, not to mention where I rolled all over the ground, my back and arms were hurting. I worried a little bit about driving the 30-miles back home but I made it okay. When I arrived at the house, my wife gave me some Benadryl and checked me over for stingers. I think the bees were bumblebees, which do not leave stingers, but it's been 2-hours since I was stung and the stinging keeps shooting through my head. At least it wasn't a fishing hook this time...

If you are ever attacked by bees, please try to remember the following:

Run away as fast as possible and head for indoor shelter; a house, car, building.
Pull your shirt up and cover your head if you can.
Do not flail your arms and swat at the bees.
Do not jump in the water, the bees will hover over you until you come up for air and then sting you more.

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