It’s no mystery that there have been many sightings of bees and wasps at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. In fact, the first pep rally of the year was canceled abruptly following an incident that occurred. A nurse from the Red Cross, who was allergic to bees, encountered a bee while she was volunteering in the blood drive that was held in the gym. Ultimately, it was decided that it would bee too dangerous for the entire faculty and student body to bee in the gym for the pep rally the next day.

You wouldn’t bee-lieve the reaction that exploded in the volleyball team’s group chat in response to the cancellation of the pep rally. And no, it was not bee-cause we had been buzzing with excitement about the pep rally and were disappointed it was canceled. The truth bee told, we had been playing in the bee-infested gym for two months. The players, coaches, and fans of both our team and the visiting teams as well as the referees had been in the gym with the bees every day. Complaints were made, but it appeared as though no changes were bee-ing made to the situation. Not until the day after our season ended, which was the day the pep rally was canceled.

I won’t honey-coat it. The bees flew around us during games and practices, distracting us from playing the game for fear of getting stung. But the real problem bee-gan the day that Coach Todd was stung by a bee while she was running warm-ups for JV. Coach Todd is allergic to bees, although she fortunately did not go into anaphylactic shock. She did however have a painful reaction on her arm that lasted for weeks. Still, the bees remained. A player was stung on her finger later in the season, and yet the bees were not dealt with. Coach Crayton evolved into a highly trained exterminator as she skillfully killed a number of bees per day with one swift swing of her clipboard. I bee-lieve the record was 16 bees killed in one practice, but I could bee wrong.

So what is to come of the bee mystery? Will the bees go away? Will they die due to the cold? Will we have another pep rally? We may never know. But the truth bee told, the bee infestation is bee-yond anything any of us ever expected.