BEE STING ACCIDENTS

[Anchor Lead]

Bee sting accidents often occur around this time of the year during the bee breeding season as their numbers increase and the bees also grow more aggressive. People visiting tomb sites to tidy up the grass for ancestral rites ahead of the Chuseok holiday, must especially be cautious of bee attacks.

[Pkg]

At this apartment complex in the southern city of Busan… A firefighter dressed in full protective gear stands on a fire truck and burns something between the trees. That something is a bee hive, a wasp's nest to be exact, attached to a branch. So far this month, which marks the bee spawning season, fire stations in Busan have received over 14-hundred requests to help remove bee hives. During this time of the year, bees react to even the smallest stimulation, and are capable of attacking people.

[Soundbite] RYU HWANG-YEOL(BUSAN PORT FIRE STATION) : "Wear bright color clothes with long sleeves and don't act in a way that can provoke them. If you make contact with a hive, run away immediately to a distance over 20 meters away."

People are advised to be especially careful during outdoor activities including visits to grave sites ahead of the Chuseok holiday. Among the 70,000 people who visited the doctor for bee stings since 2014, 20,000 of them were stung in August. A bee sting can be fatal for the elderly or people with respiratory or cardiovascular illnesses. In fact, a 70-something senior citizen died in Chungcheongnam-do Province on August 10th after being stung by a bee while cutting weeds in the hills.

[Soundbite] JO SI-HYUNG(DERMATOLOGIST) : "The more dangerous symptoms include a drop in blood pressure and breathing difficulties. Those afflicted by allergies and asthma as well as the elderly and infants can also be vulnerable."

If stung by a bee, make sure to first wash the affected area with water, keep it cool with an ice pack and immediately make your way to a hospital.