In the Friday, June 1, edition of the Altus Times, Dave Sundquist reported to the Altus Times that he and several members of a privately contracted landscaping crew were attacked and stung by Africanized “killer bees” while doing routine yard maintenance on Altus Air Force Base. He said that Altus AFB entomology was called out, but according to Michael Fletcher, chief of public affairs, Altus AFB entomology did not respond.

Stephanie Austin, outreach coordinator and resident specialist for GMH Military Housing at Altus AFB, said that after being notified by the landscaping company they quickly mitigated the risk by contacting a professional beekeeper, and that on May 31 the bee keeper treated the area and removed the bees.

Fletcher said that in his opinion the bees were not "killer bees" as reported by Sunquist, but English honey bees believed to have Africanized traits.

Don Akins of Akins Pest Control, who was called out to remove the bees, said that he would guess they were Africanized bees, but wouldn't be completely sure until the tests came back. Akins said he could have used the term “killer bees” while at the site but said, “The term ‘Africanized bees' and ‘killer bees' are pretty interchangeable, but one thing is for sure, they are here.”

Altus Parks and Recreations' Randy Marple said that he has been called several times over the past few weeks about aggressive bee swarms within the Altus city limits including one this weekend in which a swarm of bees was found in a meter can on Bell Street.

“We can't take a chance; we need to go out and take care of these before they harm people,” Marple said.