The story carried in the Valley Morning Star that caught the most attention last week by Valley Morning Star readers, was the Africanized killer bees attack that killed an 85-year-old man while working with his tractor cutting grass.
He must have been in very good physical condition for an 85-yearold man to still be able to operate a tractor. He probably would have lived several more years.
He died an early death because of someone else’s negligence by illegally piling up a stack of ole tires for the killer bees to build their hives in.
So, who is to blame? It wasn’t the man on the tractor … he was doing a good deed by cutting the grass.
It wasn’t the bees, they just made a home in the old tires that someone had provided them.
You would have to point the finger at the person that piled up that stack of tires, and the city officials that did not enforce the law or provided a place for them to dispose of the junk.
They say take it to the city dump. Ha. That’s’ a laugh.
First you have to own a truck. Less than a third of the people have one. What if you are a 65-year-old, handicapped widowed lady who has no way in the world of getting it there.
Then, even though you pay the city, state and government tax, you get nothing for it, so you have to pay out of pocket. No truck, no money, then you just have to stack it somewhere and hope you don’t get caught, or that the killer bees don’t chose your location to settle in.
The reason it caught my attention was because it should have been prevented. It became very personal to me because I too am an 85-yearold man and it could happen to me. I am in good health and I expect to live a few more years. I don’t want some Brazilian, Africanized killer bee that colonized and spread up through Mexico and into the! Rio Grande Valley, to swarm out of some ole junk car, old tires, or other piles of junk and sting me to death.
This is not something new … it has been here for a number of years. Every year someone dies from the same colonized groups of killer bees. And, it will continue until we take control of the situation.
It’s time for the Government, States and Cities to start putting a stop to it.
For the most part they can. The government can bring their resources into it with Scientific steadies and cross breeding or whatever. The states can adopt laws and penalties to stop people from illegally making the junk areas. The cities and counties can create planed areas for the people to dispose of the junk. They tell the tax paying citizens to dispose of it, yet there is no place to throw old tires, or batteries, junk fenders, doors and hundreds of other items.
Then as a last resort the government can adopt a plan to totally eliminate the species from the United! States by professionals or bounty.
This killing was right near a Day Care Center. They could have been outside and no telling how many old helpless people and children would have been attacked or killed.
Politicians and city officials need to become alerted to this problem and adopt some plans. Remember, it was the most read story in the Valley Morning Star last week. It will get you a lot of votes.
Curtis Hatcher, Harlingen
