UNT Bees Get Reprieve

The University of North Texas says it is postponing plans to get rid of a colony of bees that have called the university home for several years.

On Thursday, the school's leaders said they would exterminate two enormous bee hives in one of the walls of the Radio, Television, Film building on Monday.

On Friday, the school said it had postponed any action until the end of the spring semester. UNT said its decision is because of the response of beekeepers and concerned members of the community, students, faculty and staff.

"Delaying action on the bee colonies will allow us to continue to gather as much information as possible on the best way to deal with the bee colonies," said Charles Jackson, acting senior associate vice president for administration. "The bee colonies are damaging the building and will either have to be moved or eliminated. We have talked with many experts but this delay will provide us an opportunity to visit with others interested in the situation to develop the proper approach."

The older hive, which has been in existence for at least 18 years, has never posed problems. The issue is bees living in a second hive, which has been around for about two years. Those bees have become extremely aggressive in the past three weeks.

"The worse case scenario is, someone that's allergic could die," Lynda Hutson, UNT pest control administer said Thursday. "That's the bottom line. We can't have that happen."

The university says while it determines the best course of action it will "monitor the hives closely to ensure there are no safety concerns for students, faculty or staff."

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