Okeechobee News, Thursday January 26, 2006, p.1 http://www.newszap.com/articles/2006/01/25/fl/lake_okeechobee/aokee01.txt
In preparation for the onslaught of Africanized Honey Bees to the area, formerly dubbed “killer bees,” the University of Florida/IFAS Extension is hosting a workshop Friday, Jan. 25, from 9 a.m. until noon at the St. Lucie County Extension office’s Hurricane House.
The workshop is for pest control professionals, law enforcement officers and emergency first responders.
Dan Culbert, county extension agent in Okeechobee, said they are looking for some local people who would be willing to be first responders in case the very aggressive Africanized Honey Bees are on someone’s property and the nest needs to be destroyed.
“Our goal is to get a few knowledgeable people to be first responders for these bees,” he said.
The bee first responders will need to get the training and some equipment — a bee hat and gloves that are necessary to ward off the bee stings, which come in droves with the Africanized bee. The equipment will be at St. Lucie County.
None of the Africanized bees have found their way to Okeechobee as of yet, according to Mr. Culbert.
“I have no confirmation that we have them here,” he said.
Yet, it could be just a matter of time.
Jerry Hayes, assistant chief of the bureau of apiary inspection for the Florida Department of Agriculture, said he had a report of the Africanized bees in Moore Haven a couple of months ago.
“They are in South Florida, from Miami Gardens to Fort Myers. And I expect more this year,” he said.
Mr. Culbert said the aggressiveness of these bees is similar to fire ants. They both release a pheromone that tells the rest of the group to attack to defend their territory. The bees will chase people and, if under attack, people are cautioned to run away in a straight line and seek shelter in a car or building and keep their faces covered.
People are told to not try to hide in water, because the bees can remain in an area for 30 minutes or longer.
Mr. Hayes said that the Africanized bees probably will not attack someone who is just standing on their patio, but they become aggressive and defensive when defending their home. He said they would attack those who are camping or hiking in the woods, and they may build their nests in a barbeque grill, mailbox, upside down empty flower pot or other outside container. He cautioned people to be aware of their environment.
The Africanized Honey Bee is about the same size as the gentle European bee — only about 1 to 2 percent smaller, said Mr. Hayes.
And, its coloring can be different. The African Honey Bee was bred with the European Honey Bee to create a honey bee that would be better suited to tropical conditions. It began its journey to the U.S. from Brazil in 1957 when 26 African queen bees escaped from the breeding program. The bees made their way through South and Central America, Mexico and the Western U.S.
According to Mr. Hayes, the feral population of the gentler European bee has been moving away and some diseases have eliminated their population.
“A void is usually filled, and the Africanized bees are filling it,” he said.
While the Africanized bees pollinate, they do not do this feat as well as the European bee, and because of their aggressive nature they are hard to manage and cause problems for grove workers.
“They do collect a lot of pollen and nectar, but rather than storing it for the beekeeper, they use it to create more bees,” Mr. Hayes said.
Although people should be concerned about the Africanized bees, Mr. Hayes put it into perspective.
“We live in a state that has fire ants, alligators, snakes and a lot of things to look out for, and this just adds one more insect. People will probably look over their shoulder a lot, but they can mitigate it as much as possible by just being aware,” he said.
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Larry
A. Arrington, Dean Last update: 01/27/2006
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