Eliasville , TX - YOUNG COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

Young County was added today to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 145 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

A wild colony of bees was taken from a hollow pecan tree in an orchard 4 miles north of Eliasville. The bees were killed and a sample sent to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station. The bees were found after Steve Regar hit the dead tree with a bulldozer, Jackson said. Regar received about 50 stings and broke his wrist escaping, but has recovered. (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 10/28/02).

Parker County , TX - PARKER MAN DIES AFTER BEE ATTACK

A Parker County man died this week after being stung more than 200 times by what officials say was a colony of crossbred honeybees and Africanized bees.

Mike Kavanaugh, 56, was stung while mowing a pasture with his tractor along White Settlement Road in eastern Parker County, officials said.

"He was covered from head to toe with bees," his daughter, Ashley Kavanaugh, 19, of Azle, said Thursday.

Mike Kavanaugh, a former excavation worker, had been partially paralyzed in a horseback riding accident years ago and had apparently struggled during the attack to return to his wheelchair.

He died at home Monday, a week after the attack and after being hospitalized twice, officials said.

A funeral is scheduled at 10 a.m. today at Laurel Land Funeral Home.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office had not ruled Thursday on an official cause of death.

Lab tests indicate the bees were domestic honeybees that crossbred with Africanized bees, commonly known as killer bees. Two other swarms found nearby were also crossbred colonies, officials said.

Across Texas, Africanized bees have been linked to five deaths, four of which involved the crossbred strains, said Kathleen Phillips, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman. The first death occurred in 1993 and the most recent in May.

Parker County will probably not be included on a state bee quarantine list because no hives of fully Africanized bees were found, Phillips said.

Five North Texas counties -- Tarrant, Dallas, Hood, Ellis and Johnson -- are among the 144 counties statewide that are included in the quarantine, which restricts movement of commercial bees.

On Sept. 16, firefighters responding to a 911 call found Kavanaugh slumped unconscious on his tractor and covered with bees, about 10 feet from his wheelchair, said Brad Cathey, Parker County's emergency management coordinator.

Firefighters donned special gear and used a soapy foam to remove the swarming insects, officials said.

Cathey said the bees had built a hive in the tire of an abandoned truck, which Kavanaugh apparently bumped with his tractor while mowing.

He was taken by helicopter ambulance to Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital and released Sept. 18. He later returned to the hospital but was released again, then died Monday, officials said.

Two other hives were found about 20 yards away in an abandoned house. The bees were sent to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station for testing, officials said.

Ashley Kavanaugh said her father still rode horses with assistance and enjoyed mowing his 16-acre pasture in eastern Parker County.

"Mowing was about the only thing he could still do, and he loved it," she said.

She said her father had been looking forward to teaching her daughter, Bailey -- a 3-year-old he called Scooter -- to ride horses.

"When we brought him home from the hospital, he said the one thing he really wanted was to live to watch Bailey grow up and teach her to ride," she said.

She said her father had been using parts from the abandoned pickup to restore a 1954 Chevrolet.

Mike Kavanaugh had an old German shepherd he called "Dog" as a constant companion, his daughter said. She said that she and her two children are his only survivors.

Africanized bees have been moving into Texas and the southwestern United States from South America since the 1950s.

The Africanized bees look like domestic honeybees, but are more aggressive in defending their hives. The bees do not roam in swarms looking to attack, but will react defensively when they feel threatened.

Parker County officials are asking residents to be mindful of bee hives, but they stress there is no reason to panic.

"Any wild hives found in the county need to be reported to the office of emergency management or the Parker County office of Texas cooperative extension immediately," Cathey said.

All Africanized bees found in the United States have been in Texas and farther west, Phillips said.

"We've never heard of them east of Texas," she said. "Nevada is the northernmost extension of their range."

Africanized bees were first detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. Since then, the bees have spread through much of the state and into Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico.

The bees' movements in the state are monitored by a series of bee traplines that extend across Texas from Louisiana to New Mexico. (Gale M. Bradford, Special to the Star-Telegram. Staff Writers Neil Strassman and Bill Teeter contributed to this report. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9/27/02.)

Seguin , TX - HUNDREDS OF BEES ATTACK GUADALUPE CO. MAN

2 Men Save Victim From Possible Death

SEGUIN, Texas -- A Guadalupe County man is scheduled to be released from a hospital on Thursday after he was stung more than 400 times by what officials suspect were Africanized bees.

A.C. Gembler (pictured, left) was mowing some grass on Tuesday when he accidentally disturbed a huge nest of the so-called "killer bees."

Within minutes, hundreds of bees attacked Gembler, leaving him defenseless and nearly unconscious.

"It was just a horrible feeling," Gembler said from his hospital bed at the Guadalupe Valley Hospital in Seguin. "Because they just covered my face."

Luckily for Gembler, two men who were passing and saw Gembler on the ground and the swarm of bees.

Despite the potential danger awaiting them, the men were able to get the almost-lifeless 300-pound man into the bed of a pickup and drove him to a fire station in McQueeney where an ambulance was waiting to transport Gembler.

"Boy, I tell you, that was a real blessing," Gembler said.

Nurses said that doctors pulled 400 to 500 stingers from Gembler's body. Doctors even pulled two live bees from the victim's ear.

"They even got in my mouth, my nose," Gembler added. "They had to pull some stingers (from) my tongue."

Gembler said he credits the hospital staff, the McQueeney Fire Department and especially the two men for saving his life.

"If they wouldn't have risked their self for me, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be ready to go home," Gembler said. (KSAT-TV 12, San Antonio, 9/19/02).

Montgomery , TX - MONTGOMERY COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

Montgomery County was added Tuesday to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 144 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

A wild colony of bees was taken from a hollow tree at Cedar Break Park near the intersection of Houston and Caroline streets in Montgomery. The bees were killed and a sample sent to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station. Jackson said the bees were found after a worker tending to the park grounds was stung. The worker has recovered.

The quarantine allows beekeepers to move beehives within, but not out of, the zone in an effort to prevent assisting the spread.

Africanized honey bees look just like regular domestic honey bees but are more defensive in protecting their hives, Jackson noted.

State bee inspectors continue to monitor a series of bee traplines that extend across the state from Louisiana to New Mexico. The Africanized bee was first detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. Since then, the bee has spread through much of the state, along a line roughly from Houston to Lubbock to El Paso. Africanized honey bees also have been found in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 9/3/02).

AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES CONFIRMED IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

Santa Barbara County, CA --- The Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner's Office received confirmation today of the first Africanized honey bee (AHB) find in the County. The sample had been collected by the Santa Barbara Coastal Vector Control District (SBCVCD) and was confirmed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's laboratory in Sacramento.

"We've been expecting this", said Bill Gillette, Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner. "AHB has been slowly moving northward since it first migrated into the California deserts in 1994."

The samples were taken from two bee swarms in Goleta, after the bees were reported to the Vector Control District. SBCVCD destroyed all remaining bees at the time the sample was taken, and no one was stung.

African honey bees were introduced to Brazil in 1956 for research purposes. Since their accidental release in 1957, when they began mating with European bees to form the hybrid "Africanized" honey bee, they have steadily migrated northward. They now occupy parts of Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California. Africanized honey bees are less predictable and more defensive than European honey bees, and are more likely to defend a greater area around their nest. They respond faster and in greater numbers, although each bee can sting only once. Although these traits have earned Africanized honey bees the nickname "killer bees", in the twelve years since their arrival in the United States via Texas, AHB has only been responsible for about twelve human deaths, mostly in Texas and Arizona. The average number of deaths per year caused by the common European Honey bee in the US is around 40.

Experts stress that some common sense precautions will greatly reduce the chance that you will ever encounter AHB. These include removing debris from yards, sealing openings in exterior walls, and skirting mobile homes to the ground. If you see a bee swarm, leave it alone. All bee swarms are non-aggressive in nature as long as they are not disturbed. If aggressive bees are encountered, run away as quickly as possible and seek shelter in a car or house. Try and protect your face as you run, as the bees will focus their attack there. The attached information prepared by the University of California provides general bee precautions, information on bee-proofing your home, and what to do if stung.

"There are a variety of resources available to assist the community," said Gillette. These include lesson plans for schools, videos, slides, and written materials in English and Spanish. To learn more about AHB or to request materials for your agency or organization, Santa Barbara County residents can call the Agricultural Commissioner's AHB Information Line at (805) 681-5601 or (877) 856-2337 toll-free, or the Santa Barbara Coastal Vector Control District at (805) 969-5050.

In an emergency situation where individuals are being stung multiple times, call 911. In non-emergency situations, the Santa Barbara Coastal Vector Control District will provide service or referrals for residents of the unincorporated areas of the county. Residents of the incorporated areas should contact their specific city or hire a private pest control operator for bee removal on their property. (News Release, Agricultural Commissioner's Office, 805.681.5600; Santa Barbara Coastal Vector Control District, 805.969.5050, 9/3/02).

BOY TRYING TO FLEE BEES IS STRUCK, KILLED BY VAN

Ahwatukee, AZ --- A 13-year-old boy trying to escape an angry swarm of bees in Ahwatukee died Sunday after he darted out into traffic and was struck by a van.

The accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Ray Road, east of 48th Street. He was taken to Maricopa Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the unidentified teenager and another boy about 11 years old ran from the bees after apparently throwing rocks at a hive. The other boy was not struck by the vehicle.

The driver of the van apparently was unable to swerve in time to avoid hitting the boy. Police were not expected to file charges against the driver.

The call for emergency medical service, which was made from a cellphone, reported that a boy had been struck by a vehicle and that he was unconscious and breathing.

Firefighters did not learn about the bees until they arrived. They called for a beekeeper to remove the hive.

A Fire Department source said that more than likely the hive was removed or destroyed a short time later.

Phoenix police have not released the identity of the victim or the driver. (Ryan Konig, The Arizona Republic, 9/2/02)

SPECIALISTS REMOVE HUGE HIVE FROM SHED AT SUNIZONA HOME
"Similar ones probably exist here, they say"

Sunizona, AZ --- Specialists removed a hive of more than 30,000 Africanized bees Friday that attacked and killed a 46-year-old woman and injured her fiance on July 31.

The hive spanned an entire 10-foot-by-2-foot wall panel of a shed behind the home of Cheryl McClain, a nurse's aide who died on the front porch of her home in Sunizona, about 110 miles southeast of Tucson.

McClain and her fiance,
36-year-old Ted Richard, had seen a few bees for months, but had gone in and out of the shed "a million times" without incident until the day McClain died, Richard said.

"That's very typical," said Derek Taylor, of AAA Afri-canized Bee Removal Specialists Inc. "People will only see a few bees at a time, and they're not aggressive, and then one day, some little thing just sets them off."

The massive hive removed from the shed contained more than eight honeycombs that stretched from floor to ceiling, but Taylor said its size was also "very typical."

"It's big, and they've probably been here for about a year, but it's probably about average compared with the hives we remove on a daily basis," he said. "And there are probably thousands of hives like this in the Tucson area."

Given the size of the hive, McClain and Richard were stung hundreds if not thousands of times, Taylor said.

The rate of lethal toxicity for bee stings is about seven stings to 1 pound.

That means about 200 stings will kill a dog weighing 30 pounds, and about 1,050 stings will kill a 150-pound person, he said.

McClain, the fifth person to die from a bee attack in Arizona since 1993, may have been allergic to bee stings, but officials say there is no way to know for sure.

Richard was hospitalized for several days but has recovered.

The day McClain died, Richard had been moving some shelves into the shed with her when he suddenly heard a "freight train" and walked out of the shed to find the bees attacking McClain.

"It was a black cloud about 60 feet by 40 feet, and as soon as I ran to help Cheryl, they started attacking me," Richard said. "I carried her over to the front porch, and I swatted at them and tried to spray them off with a garden hose, but nothing worked."

McClain's father, Mac McGraw, who lives in the home next door, heard the two screaming, called 911, and watched his daughter die minutes later on the porch as the bees swarmed around the property. McGraw was also stung, but did not need medical care.

"Every time I look at those steps, I see my daughter lying there, and that will never go away, but maybe it'll get easier in time," said McGraw, 70. "My wife and I have been married for 50 years, and we lean on each other."

McGraw and Richard gain strength from talking about the horrendous attack through the knowledge that people will learn from their plight, Richard said. "People need to know that if they've got bees somewhere on their property, even if they only see a few of them, that they have to get rid of them immediately," he said. "You can't just ignore them and leave them alone because they're not bothering you.

"One day, you'll be sitting on your porch drinking coffee and everything will be fine, and the next day you'll be doing the exact same thing, and they'll attack, and someone you love will die."

Taylor grew up around bees, as his grandfather was a beekeeper. He works for the Phoenix branch of the bee removal company owned by Tucsonan Tom Martin, who is also a commercial beekeeper. Martin's stepson, 20-year-old Lincoln Perino, also is an old hand with bees, having worked for the Tucson office since he was 13.

Taylor and Perino first "smoked" the hive, using several hand-held devices that look like watering cans with bellows attached to them. They fuel the cans with cardboard, light them, and waft the smoke around the hive. The smoke simulates a wildfire, and causes the bees to gather at the hive and gorge themselves on the honey in the combs, Perino said.

"If a fire is going to destroy the hive, the bees will take up all the honey they can to use for energy to find a new place for a hive and to have some honey to get it started," Perino said. "If we didn't use the smoke, they'd all be attacking us at once, and even with the bee suits, we'd be getting stung."

After the hive had been sufficiently smoked, Taylor and Perino moved in with a pesticide that kills bees but doesn't harm mammals. Thousands of bees swarmed around the shed, but little by little, the freight train waned to a dull roar. The two men then began hacking away the massive combs.

Taylor estimated the hive held about 8 gallons of honey, which was destroyed because it became laced with the pesticide used to kill the bees. After removing any trace of honey that might attract another colony to the shed, the two men filled the wall panel with insulation to prevent it from being reoccupied.

"They're looking for a crevice, and if you fill all the crevices you can, you're giving them no place to go," Perino said.

An average bee removal costs about $200, but complex cases where walls and roofs are torn down can cost much more, Taylor said. The shed at Sunizona was such a case, but Martin's company did the job for free, he said.

"With what these people are going through, we just wanted to do something for them," Taylor said. (Thomas Stauffer , ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 8/17/02).

DROUGHT LINK TO BEE STINGS IS IN DISPUTE
"Experts see colony 'robbers' and defenders"

Tucson, AZ - Local experts disagree about whether drought has made bees more aggressive this summer, leading to last week's bee attacks.

The drought has made bees more likely to battle for, or defend, prime territory, causing an increase in bee aggression and leading to more attacks this summer, said Tom Martin, a local commercial beekeeper and President of AAA Bee Removal Specialists Inc.

"Any time that there is robbing behavior (when bees rob other colonies), bees are going to be far more defensive in defending their nest sites; therefore the propensity of Africanized bees attacking when there is ongoing robbing behavior is much greater," Martin said.

Retired plant physiologist Gerald Loper of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, 2000 E. Allen Road, agreed robbing takes place more often during a drought but said he can't point to a single factor that could tie together recent bee attacks in Tucson.

Bee Center Research leader and entomologist Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman agreed.

DeGrandi-Hoffman said that during certain times of year when resources are low, bees rob other colonies for honey and resources but said she knows of no correlation between drought and aggressive bee behavior.

All experts agreed nine years after the first Africanized honeybee colony was discovered in Tucson that nearly all the wild honeybees here have become the more defensive African honeybees.

Attacks were rare before Africanized colonies migrated north to Arizona in 1993, Tucson Fire Department Battalion Chief Randy Ogden said.

Five Arizonans have died from bee stings since 1993, Martin said. Cheryl McClain, 46, who authorities believe was allergic to bee stings, died in an bee attack last week in Cochise County. Her boyfriend, Ted Richard, 36, survived hundreds of stings. The next day a 63-year-old woman and her 43-year-old son were attacked by bees. Both survived.

Dr. Leslie Boyer, medical director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, said that while most attacks are frightening, death is rarely the outcome because most healthy adults can withstand hundreds of bee stings.

Attack prevention

Awareness and prevention are key, Loper and DeGrandi-Hoffman said. If people take time to search their property for developing hives and have them removed immediately, the risk of more attacks can be minimized.

DeGrandi-Hoffman advised hikers to be aware of and avoid bee colonies nestled in rock overhangs or in trees.

Anyone being attacked by bees should immediately run to the nearest house, car or shelter that will keep the bees out. "Even if you bring a few bees into the house, the majority will remain outside," she said.

Loper and DeGrandi-Hoffman said attempting to wash the bees off with a garden hose, as was the case with at least two of the three recent attacks, will not help. Thousands will continue to attack, undeterred by water.

Why more bees now?

During the monsoon, flowers blossom, bees produce more honey and the colonies tend to become larger and more crowded, which ultimately leads them to split, DeGrandi-Hoffman said. When a colony becomes crowded, workers begin nurturing some developing larvae in order to produce new queens. The first new queen to emerge from her cell will kill other developing queens to become the new queen.

The old queen in the colony, accompanied by thousands of worker bees, will leave the old hive in search of a new home, which they often find in the eaves of homes and sheds, Loper said.

Swarming increases the number of bees people see around town, he said. But most swarms are not aggressive, as they have no hive to protect.

DeGrandi-Hoffman warned that both European and Africanized honeybees will attack anything they perceive as a threat to resources, including as much as 100 pounds of honey built up over the summer.

"Nests in structures have built up plenty of resources and bees are defending them," DeGrandi-Hoffman said.

This type of nest-defense
behavior DeGrandi-Hoffman cited is more frequently exhibited by Africanized honeybees, which she said will also pursue the object they are attacking for longer periods and distances.

From Africa via Brazil

African bees were introduced to South America by geneticist Warwick Kerr in the 1950s, Degrandi-Hoffman said. Local beekeepers maintained European honeybees in Brazil during that time.

But the colonies in Brazil were unaccustomed to the tropical climate and produced limited quantities of honey. The Brazilian government, corporations and beekeeping organizations asked Kerr to produce a species more accustomed to the tropics. African bees were known to produce greater quantities of honey and were accustomed to the climate.

Kerr pursued the hybridization of African and European bees to create a species capable of flourishing in the tropics yet still retaining the gentle behavior of the European bees.

Unfortunately, some African bees escaped and moved north over the years, replacing the European gene in some areas. The only pure European bees in Tucson can be found with beekeepers who keep their colonies free from the African gene by bringing European queens from Hawaii and the southeastern United States.

Africanized bees can be found as far north as California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. However, much to the surprise and wonder of scientists, DeGrandi-Hoffman said, they seem to have stopped in East Texas and haven't proceeded farther east to Louisiana or Mississippi.

All three experts agree most local wild bees are now fully African with no trace of the European gene. The number continues to increase, DeGrandi-Hoffman said. She expects the European gene in our native bee population to be entirely replaced by the African gene. (Veronica Torrejón, Arizona Daily Star, 8/7/02).

BEE ATTACK SURVIVOR DESCRIBES DEADLY SWARM THAT TOOK HIS GIRLFRIEND'S LIFE

Tucson, AZ - Tonight, we hear from the surviving victim of a deadly bee attack earlier this week in Cochise County.

46-year-old Cheryl McClain died after killer bees swarmed her and her boyfriend in the small town of Sunizona.

36-year-old Ted Richard is still feeling the pain of the likely-hundreds of bee stings he survived.

From his hospital bed, he describes how a black cloud of bees attacked him and Cheryl, and, how a few minutes later, he knew Cheryl was not going to make it.

Tucson native Ted Richard says he had gone in and out of this shed several times- before yesterday- when he says thousands of bees went on the attack.

"When I stepped back out of the shed to go get the shelves, I looked over and Cheryl was already being attacked."

Cheryl McClain was covered in bees- and seconds later, so was Richard.

He says the two ran to grab garden hoses to try to spray the bees away.

Richard says the water didn't phase the bees, and 5 minutes later, Cheryl collapsed.

Richard says he knew she was gone. "Her lips were blue, her eyes were glossy, she wasn't breathing, she wasn't coherent."

Richard says he soon also fell unconscious on the porch, and the next thing he remembers is medics, who didn't want to get too close to the swarm of bees, yelling at him through a bullhorn.

"I don't remember them getting there, but I remember them yelling at me over their PA, trying. Then I brought myself up to the ambulance where they wanted me to."

Medics airlifted Richard to TMC Tuesday afternoon.

He recalls the horror of being attacked by- he says- thousands of angry, bees. "It just feels like someone's sticking you with a needle, you know, but you feel a burning, it almost feels like fire in, wherever they sting ya."

Richard says TMC staff pulled hundreds of stingers from his stomach, his arms, hands, all over his body.

He says he can take the physical pain, but as he recalls the last words he and Cheryl said to each other, he tells me, he wishes his life had been taken instead.

"She had a water hose too, trying to spray herself off, and then she stopped and she looked at me, she goes, 'I love you Ted' and I said 'I love you too Cheryl, it'll be all right Cheryl,' and then she just dropped, that was it."

The Cochise County Medical Examiner tells me Cheryl McClain was stung 80 to 100 times.
McClain's mother and father, who live next door, called 9-1-1.

They say by the time medics arrived to the rural home, Cheryl was already dead. (Terry Gonzalez, KGUN-TV 9, 8/2/02).

BEES KILL WOMAN AND HURT 3 OTHERS

Tucson, AZ -- A 63-year-old woman and her son were stung by hundreds of bees in front of their Southwest Side home Wednesday, officials said, one day after a woman died and her boyfriend was seriously injured in a similar attack in Cochise County.

Officials said they weren't surprised by the attacks, which likely involved Africanized bees, because colonies this year have been more aggressive than before. They expect more incidents as the peak months for bee activity begin.

"Unfortunately, we fully expected that we were going to have serious attacks occur this year due to the drought conditions," said Tom Martin, president of AAA Africanized Bee Removal Specialists Inc.

Bees face limited resources because of the drought, he said, and are robbing other hives of honey. They're using an increased number of "guard" bees - the ones most likely to attack people - to repel raids, he said.

Martin said his company is abating about the same number of hives as last year, "but the aggressiveness these colonies display is at least 10 times worse."

In fact, four employees have gone to the hospital for stings this year, he said, and two retired from the business on the advice of their doctors.

Colonies this year are more dangerous, too, Martin said, because of last year's favorable conditions. There was a bumper crop of bees in 2001, he said, and many are around still, further straining resources.

Mother, son attacked

The Tucson woman, Juanita Orta, and her son, Alex Kane, 43, were taken to area hospitals after the 4:45 p.m. incident at a home near South Camino de Oeste and West Irvington Road, said Drexel Heights Fire Assistant Chief Gary Bynum.

"When we arrived, the bees were swarming all over the son and the mother," Bynum said. "He was spraying off his mother, trying to protect her."

Firefighters turned their hoses upward, creating an umbrella effect that allowed the pair to run to an ambulance.

Officials located the hive in the eaves of a house, Bynum said, near where relatives said Orta and Kane had been releasing propane from a tank just before the attack. A contractor was scheduled to remove the hive late Wednesday, he said.

Orta and Kane were having trouble breathing but were expected to recover, Bynum said.

Fatal attack

The Cochise County man, Ted Richard, 36, also is expected to recover. He remained at Tucson Medical Center late Wednesday in fair condition.

That incident, the fifth time someone has died from bee stings in Arizona since 1993, occurred at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Cheryl McClain, 46, and Richard were taking some old shelves to a storage shed behind McClain's trailer, near Arizona 181 east of Sunizona, when they were attacked, relatives and officials said.

"They went out there in the truck and the next thing I knew, I heard both of them yelling and screaming," said McClain's father, Mac McGraw. "I couldn't figure out what was happening so I went out on my porch and they said, 'Call 911, we're being attacked by bees.'"

McGraw said the pair ran the 40 feet back toward McClain's trailer covered with bees. The swarm kept attacking even as its victims tried to spray the bees off with water hoses, he said.

"The bees were so bad, they were even coming and stinging me on the porch, probably 50 feet away," he said.

By the time an ambulance arrived at the rural acreage McGraw and his wife of 50 years, Roberta, shared with their daughter, McClain had reached her trailer steps and Richard was on the porch, both lying prone, McGraw said.

Richard got up and walked to the ambulance when medics called to him, McGraw said, but his daughter didn't move. He walked to her, fending off the bees from his eyes and nose.

"I tried to get them to get to my daughter and they said she was already dead," he said. "I went over to her and took a hold of her arm and it was like she was a rag doll, it just flopped."

Authorities said they believe McClain, a nurse's assistant who worked at Northern Cochise Community Hospital in Willcox and had one daughter and granddaughter, was allergic to bees.

"It was a terrible thing. It's something I'll never forget," McGraw said. "I don't know how long it will take to get this imprint out of my mind of her laying there on the steps."

The bees were in the storage shed for at least a year, said McGraw, who was stung 20 times.

"She was a very caring and a very loving person," he said of his daughter. "It was a terrible accident and a terrible loss."

Martin said he arranged to remove the hive for free after hearing of the attack.

"I am sick over what happened because I know how painful it is to be stung," he said of the attack, which he's almost positive involved Africanized bees. "I would be shocked if this were anything other than an Africanized bee colony, just like the case in Tucson." (L. Anne Newell, ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 8/1/02).

BEE ATTACK PROVES FATAL FOR PEARCE WOMAN

Pearce, AZ -- A 46-year-old woman who was allergic to bee stings died Tuesday after apparently being stung several hundred times, the Cochise County Sheriff's Department said.

Cheryl McClain and Ted Richards, 36, of Pearce were attacked by the bees Tuesday afternoon. Sunsites medics responded.

Sheriff's deputies and medics arrived on the scene. Richards was immediately airlifted to Tucson Medical Center, where he is in stable condition. McClain was apparently dead at the scene. Medics said both victims appeared to have several hundred bee stings on their bodies.

The investigation into the incident is continuing. (Sierra Vista Herald/Review, 7/31/02.)

Inyo County, CA - AFRICAN HONEY BEES ENTER INYO

AHB don't present threat if measures are taken, Milovich says

Africanized Honey Bees have entered Inyo County, but through preventive and defensive measures there is hope against these insects.

The bees are an escaped 1957 experiment from Brazil, where scientists tried to hybridize, or crossbreed, African honey bees with their European cousins. The scientists hoped to retain the Europeans' love of honey-making and add the hardiness of the African bees. However, they got the opposite results.

"The Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) are not interested in making honey. They care about the brood," explained Agricultural Commissioner George Milovich. Where the more gentle European Honey Bee (EHB) only splits the hive maybe once a year, AHB send out five to six. They are also very aggressive and territorial. If their hive is threatened they will send out half of their numbers, while the European strain will only send out 10-30.

AHB entered the United States via Texas sometime in 1990-91. By 1994 they made it San Diego, and Imperial County was the first in the state to deal with the insects. By now they populate most of Southern California. "We've anticipated them here for years," said Milovich, "but they seemed to be avoiding us."

A random sampling returned eight positive identifications of the Africanized strain in southern Inyo County from Pearsonville to Lone Pine. Officials took more samples, which proved positive all the way up to Independence.

The office isn't worried about the commercial bee hives that keepers bring up in the fall because the keepers re-queen to keep the Africanized strain out. The EHB are important because they provide 80 percent of the pollination in the area. If the EHB were eliminated, the AHB would quickly fill the gap, claims the pamphlet.

The Agricultural Commissioner's Office is gearing up to meet with local emergency agencies, such as the Police and Fire Departments, and the public. "During the meetings we'll show a brief film and answer any questions," stated Milovich. They will also be developing a county-wide action plan with all the agencies.

The public meetings are as follows: In Olancha at the Olancha School House on Monday, July 29 from 6-7 p.m.; in Lone Pine at Statham Hall on Monday, July 29 from 7:30-8:30 p.m.; in Independence at the American Legion Hall on Tuesday, July 30 from 6-7 p.m.; in Big Pine at the Big Pine Town Hall on Tuesday, July 30 from 7:30-8:30 p.m.; and in Bishop at City Council Chambers on Thursday, Aug. 1 from 7-8 p.m.

The bees cannot be eradicated, although "because they don't make a whole lot of honey, they may not be able to survive the winters up here," said Milovich. But in the meantime citizens must learn to live with them.

"If you encounter a foraging individual, he won't act any different than any other bee. But if you get too close to an AHB hive, they will send out half the swarm to defend their home," explained Milovich. If this should happen run away, preferably towards a vehicle or a house. If there isn't any shelter nearby, keep running. Added Milovich, "The best thing to do is run." AHB will pursue what they perceive as a threat for up to a quarter of a mile. Do not jump into any bodies of water, the bees will wait.

Milovich advises bee-proofing your home, "Block up any holes in your house and garage." The bees will nest in any little space they find, like old tires, boxes, infrequently used vehicles, lumber piles, holes in fences, trees or the ground, outbuildings, low decks or spaces under buildings, explains a pamphlet from the University of California, called "Bee Alert: Africanized Honey Bee Facts." The pamphlet recommends removing any potential nesting sites from around the home, but to be care when approaching the site.

Also make sure to know where your pets are. The Agricultural Commissioner explained the bees have killed several cats and dogs since entering the U.S. Most of the time the animal unknowingly approaches the hive, gets attacked, but can't get away.
If you suspect a hive of the Africanized strain, call the Agricultural Commissioner's Office. They will do what is necessary.

Milovich added, "We don't want people to be scared to death. We just want them to be aware of the feral hives and to steer clear of them. If you stay away from the hive, they're no different than any other bee." (Jamie Rowe, Inyo Register News Staff, 7/29/02)

Montgomery, TX - BEE ATTACK CLOSES PARK

An attack by aggressive bees closed a Montgomery County park.

Eddie Allen was mowing the grass when he and his co-workers were suddenly surrounded by a swarm of bees last week.

"I've never seen that many bees before in one place," Allen said.

Within seconds, the bees covered the men's hair and faces.

"(When they attacked), I started to fight them. My face swelled up. The next morning, my left eye was completely closed," Allen said.

Montgomery's mayor ordered the park shut down.

City officials posted a bee alert sign and sealed off the bee-infested area with yellow crime tape.

A bee exterminator was also called in.

He took the queen and other samples and covered the hive so no bees could get in or out.

The Montgomery County Health Department is testing the bees to determine whether they are regular honeybees or the more dangerous Africanized bees.

The park is expected to be reopened within a week. (The Conroe Courier, 7/25/02).

Montgomery, TX - AGGRESSIVE COLONIES PROMPT CONCERN OF AFRICANIZED BEES

Despite recent reports of two aggressive bee colonies in Montgomery County, no state or local agency has come forward and taken the initiative to have the bees tested to determine whether they are Africanized.

The testing could be significant, however, because there have been no confirmed cases of Africanized bees in the county. Once a county has confirmed reports of Africanized bees, it is quarantined, and while it is legal to move any bees within the area that already has the Africanized bees, it is illegal to move them out of the area.

Only extensive testing by experts at Texas A&M University would determine whether the two groups of aggressive bees, discovered in Montgomery and near Willis, are Africanized honey bees, also known as "killer bees." No samples have been tested because no state or county agency has acknowledged it is responsible for collecting bees to be tested.

Texas A&M experts at the Honeybee ID Laboratory will perform the tests necessary to determine whether the bees are Africanized, but only if someone sends in a sample of the bees, said Terry Looney, a master gardener with the Montgomery County Agricultural Extension Office.

"We don't have anyone who would go out and collect them," said Looney, who said that responsibility usually falls to the person who owns the property where the suspicious bees are found.

Ken Harris, who was attacked by bees from a hive near his home outside of Willis July 11, said he wouldn't go back out to collect dead bees after spending a solid week in the hospital after his attack.

Harris was clearing brush from a vacant lot behind his home on Persimmon in the Walnut Cove subdivision when a swarm of bees chased him down and attacked him. A heart patient, Harris suffered a severe reaction to the 43 stings he received within an hour, including severe chest pain and dizziness.

"It was like I had a cement truck parked on my chest for about six hours," said the 62-year-old Harris. Once he was stabilized, Harris was transferred to St. Luke's Texas Heart Institute in Houston for more specialized care.

When Harris was released from the hospital, he started making phone calls to try to get someone to come out and look at the bees because they had been so aggressive. When the extension service officials told Harris to "collect 35 to 40 dead bees in good condition," he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Harris said there's no way he would go back out there with a can of bug spray to try to collect a sample for testing.
"They chased me all over and got on me pretty bad," he said. "I'll go as far as my fence, but there's no way you could get me to go back anywhere close to where they are."

The vacant lot where the bees attacked Harris is tax-forfeited property that is owned by the Willis Independent School District. Ken Wilder, the executive director of support services for the school district, said he met with Harris Tuesday after Wilder learned of the incident, but he too has been unable to find an agency that will intervene.

"At this point, I'm trying to find out who I can contact to see if we can do something about it," Wilder said. "We contacted the county extension agent, who said they would be willing to send in any bees we were able to capture, so we're calling some beekeepers trying to find someone who will remove them. If we can't, we don't know what to do, other than call an exterminator to help us get rid of them."

In Montgomery, several city utility workers were attacked at Cedar Brake Park at the corner of Texas 105 and Houston Street Friday afternoon while doing some landscaping work in the area.

"They are aggressive, and they were going after people's faces, which seemed strange," said Montgomery Mayor Mary Sue Timmerman. The city workers were treated for the attacks, but none required hospitalization.

"I was just mowing when I heard my friend start yelling, 'Help me! Help me!'" said city worker Eddie Allen. "I thought maybe he had been bit by a snake or something, so I went toward him, and that's when I saw all the bees. I tried to get them off him, and that's when they got on me, too. They started attacking our faces; it's like that was what they were aiming for."

Allen said that while he and his co-worker were only stung about 20 times, there were many more bees attacking at the time.

"It was a bunch of them," he said. "It was a swarm."

Allen said he and the other man finally fled the area and were chased by the bees for about 100 yards.

Timmerman said she contacted the Montgomery County Health Department to report the bees, but county health officials said they don't handle collecting a sample for testing.

"We don't have anyone who would go out and collect them," said Patrick Buzbee, county health department director. "When people call us, we tell them to call a licensed pest control company."

Gary Johnson with the Texas Department of Health had the same advice.

So Timmerman called exterminator Gene Ballard.

"These bees were mean bees and could have been Africanized," Ballard said. "They probably are Africanized, because they're as mean as the dickens."

Ballard said he didn't collect any samples to submit to Texas A&M because no one asked him to. If any of the bees are still in the area, Ballard said, he or any other exterminator could go out and collect a sample for testing, but it's not done unless requested.

"I don't care what breed they are; I was just concerned with keeping people safe," Timmerman said.

Ballard said he focused only on eliminating the bees, and he did so by sealing up the tree in the cavity where they had built their hive.

"It's either that or cut the tree down completely," Ballard said. "Those are really the only two choices."

By sealing off the hive, the bees inside will die quickly, and the ones outside die off within several days, Ballard said.
Timmerman said the park will remain roped off at least until Friday, when workers will go out to make sure there are no more signs of the bees.

If the workers give the OK, the park will reopen for the weekend, Timmerman said.

Colonies of Africanized bees have been confirmed in two adjacent counties, Walker and Harris.

Officials with the Texas Apiary Inspection Service in College Station told The Courier Tuesday morning they would send someone out to take samples. However, as of Wednesday afternoon, no one had called back to get the locations. (Rachelann Ferris, Conroe Courier, 7/25/02).

LOS ANGELES, CA - KILLER BEES' RULED OUT IN DOG'S DEATH; 2ND ATTACK IS REPORTED

Insects: Southland specialists grow concerned that an aggressive hybrid of European and African strains may make up the stinging swarms.

The first laboratory tests of bees involved in a mass stinging episode in Whittier that killed a small dog and injured two larger ones Wednesday showed that the bees were of a commonly occurring European variety, not the more dangerous African variety as had been feared, an official said Thursday.

John Hurley, Los Angeles County's bee inspector, said that when he submitted captured bees to lab analysis, they proved to have a wingspan consistent with a European strain that has long been active here.

But in Orange County, where three dogs were hospitalized Thursday after another mass stinging in the city of Orange, a pest control expert said that more extensive DNA tests would be necessary to determine whether the bees were a hybrid variety: part African and part European.

Bee experts including David Marder, operator of Bee Busters of Laguna Beach, who was called in to handle the Orange County episode, said that ever since the African strain, often called "killer bees," arrived in Southern California within the last few years, there has been much crossbreeding with the European bees.

There is concern that attacks by the hybrids are more likely to be deadly to both humans and animals, although even for the African bees it takes about 1,100 stings to kill a person weighing 150 pounds.

Lisa Aragon, a Whittier resident whose 12-year-old daughter, Jazmin, was stung once Wednesday, and whose Chihuahua, Ole, died after receiving scores of stings, said she and her husband, Steve, had noticed a bee problem in their garage about a month ago.

"We tried to douse the hive with water," she said, "and then we bought a device that we were told would destroy the hive. But neither worked. Now, it's cost us $145 to have it taken care of professionally."

Altogether, Hurley said, about 6,000 bees were involved in the swarm that killed the Chihuahua, and stung two other dogs belonging to the Aragons.

In the Orange County attacks Thursday, an estimated 50,000 bees were involved.

Bob Gordon, owner of Gordon Termite and Pest Control, the exterminators who were called to the Aragon home, said Thursday that it is not a good idea for people who aren't trained in handling bees to try to deal with the hazard.

The bees easily become "aggressively defensive" when they feel their hives are under attack, Gordon said.

Eric Mussen, an agriculturist at UC Davis, agreed. "Call in the professionals," he said.

"And the best bet when a stinging episode begins is to put as much distance between yourself and your pets and the bees as you can by running away completely or into a closed house or car."

Mussen said that when bees sting, they emit an odor, a bit like that of bananas, that attracts other bees to the scene in a hurry.

Even though the bees involved in the attacks Wednesday and Thursday may not have been of the African variety, tests have shown that they have spread rapidly from Southern California into Central California since entering the state a year or two ago.

But Hurley said the overall danger can be exaggerated. He cited national statistics showing that since 1990, when the killer bees first entered the U.S., only eight people have died from their stings.

Altogether, he said, an average of 11 people per year have been killed by all kinds of bee stings in the United States in recent years. Children and older men have been the most frequent victims.

Outside the Aragon garage Thursday morning, there were still many bees flying around, although the family said it was assured by experts that once the queen was killed, the rest of the bees would soon go away. (Staff Writer, L. A. Times, 7/19/02).

Los Angeles, CA - BEES KILL DOG, STING MAN, DAUGHTER

A swarm of bees attacked a Whittier man and his daughter Wednesday, killed their dog and sent children at a nearby elementary school fleeing into their classrooms, authorities said.

The bees, which fire officials said may have been Africanized honeybees, flew into the 6000 block of Pickering Avenue about 1 p.m.

The man and his 12-year-old daughter were outside their home when they were each stung a few times. They suffered no serious injuries, but their Chihuahua was killed, officials said.

At Lincoln Elementary School, children were confined to their classrooms, officials said.

Neighbors said they believed the bees had a hive in the family's attic or garage.

Eric Mussen of the Department of Entomology at UC Davis said genetic tests could determine if the bees were Africanized, but that Africanized insects are present in Southern California. "It's not the first canine death," he said. "It won't be the last." (Staff Writer, L. A. Times, 7/19/02).

College Station , TX - CROSBY, KAUFMAN COUNTIES QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

Crosby and Kaufman counties were added Wednesday to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 143 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

In Crosby County, a wild colony of bees was taken from a building at 725 Ave. A in Ralls. The bees were killed and a sample sent to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station.

A wild colony of bees was taken from a mobile home at 8632 Farm Road 2578 near Kaufman in Kaufman County. A woman was stung several times by the bees but was not seriously injured, Jackson said. Those bees also were killed and a sample sent to the identification lab.

The quarantine allows beekeepers to move beehives within, but not out of, the zone in an effort to prevent assisting the spread.

Africanized honey bees look just like regular domestic honey bees but are more defensive in protecting their hives, Jackson noted.

State bee inspectors continue to monitor a series of bee traplines that extend across the state from Louisiana to New Mexico. The Africanized bee was first detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. Since then, the bee has spread through much of the state, along a line roughly from Houston to Lubbock to El Paso. Africanized honey bees also have been found in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 7/10/02).

Ranger, TX - EASTLAND COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

Eastland County was added Friday to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 141 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Samples of bees were taken from the wall of a kitchen at a home in Ranger were analyzed and found to be Africanized. All of the bees in the hive were killed, Jackson said.

The quarantine allows beekeepers to move beehives within, but not out of, the zone in an effort to prevent assisting the spread.

Africanized honey bees look just like regular domestic honey bees but are more defensive in protecting their hives.

State bee inspectors continue to monitor a series of bee traplines that extend across the state from Louisiana to New Mexico. The Africanized bee was first detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. Since then, the bee has spread through much of the state, along a line roughly from Houston to Lubbock to El Paso. Africanized honey bees also have been found in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 6/10/02).

El Campo, TX- DEADLY BEES WERE HYBRIDS

Researchers at Texas A&M University have determined the bees that killed an El Campo woman Sunday are an Africanized European hybrid.

Paul Jackson, head of the apiary inspection service at A&M, was in El Campo Tuesday to collect samples of the bees. He also inspected the Ellwood Street home where Francis Hernandez, a blind and mentally handicapped 36-year-old, was attacked by the swarm.

Lt. Danny Marek of the Wharton County Sheriff’s Department, said preliminary results were made available Friday, indicating the bees that attacked Hernandez were hybrid.

According to Jackson, hybridization can occur in two ways, with the majority of the genes coming either from the European or the Africanized bee. In the case of Sunday’s stinging, the bees were found to have more Africanized characteristics than European.

“It’s not often we get something like that,” Jackson said.

Jackson said four types of bees can be found in Texas: Africanized, Africanized-Eurpoean hybrid, European-Africanized hybrid and European.
Jackson’s final report is expected sometime this week.

For full coverage and tips on how to minimize your danger from bees, pick up a print edition of Saturday’s Leader-News. (Jason Gibbs, The El Campo Leader-News, 6/5/02).

El Campo, TX - BEE ATTACK FATAL FOR EC WOMAN

A family picnic took a tragic turn when a swarm of bees took the life of a 36-year-old El Campo woman Sunday.

Francis Hernandez, who family members said was both mentally handicapped and blind, was in the back yard of the family home at 1141 Ellwood Sunday afternoon when the attack occurred. She has lived with her mother and brothers in the home for about seven years.

Hernandez was sitting in a chair as family members were planning a cookout for that afternoon when the bees began to swarm about 5 p.m.
Her mother, Gensala Solis, had drifted off to sleep and was wakened by her daughter’s screams.

“I opened my eyes and it was nothing but a cloud of bees around her,” Solis said. “Francis had bees all over her. It was like a nightmare. I still can’t believe it.”

Miguel Garcia, Solis’ boyfriend, rushed to Hernandez’ aid. He attempted to brush the bees off of the stricken girl’s face. When that failed, he tried to rid her of the swarming insects by pouring water over her.

“He tried to pick her up and she fell the first time and the second time,” said Hernandez’ brother, Henry Hernandez. “Then she fell the third time and she just gave out.”

El Campo EMTs rushed to the scene and loaded Hernandez into an ambulance, where they began removing the bees. Family members said she had more than 100 bee stings on her face and head alone.

The toxins from the multiple stings caused Hernandez to go into shock and EMTs began performing CPR on her at the scene, said Frankie Becak, El Campo’s assistant EMS director.

She was transported to El Campo Memorial Hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate the young woman. It is believed to be the first death caused by bee stings to occur in El Campo.

For full coverage, pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Leader-News. (Jason Gibbs The El Campo Leader-News, Wednesday's Internet Edition, June 05, 2002.

El Campo, TX- HYBRID HONEY BEES FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMAN’S DEATH

Officials at the Texas Apiary Inspection Service have determined that honey bees that attacked and killed a young woman in El Campo Monday were hybrids – a mix between Africanized honey bees and regular, European honey bees.

“There were a huge number of bees in two nests,” said Paul Jackson, chief of TAIS, the Texas A&M University agency charged with regulating the state’s bee laws. “The nests had been there for more than a year.”

On Wednesday, Jackson obtained a sample from each of the nests, as well as some retrieved from the body. He said each of the samples from the nests indicated Africanized Honey Bee-European. The sample of bees from the body were no longer in condition to test, but Jackson said it is apparent that the bees came from one or both of the nests, which were near the door of the house where the stinging took place.

Jackson’s report indicates that the woman, 36-year-old Francis Hernandez, received more than 250 stings. She is not believed to have been allergic to honey bee venom, he said, but other health factors may have contributed to her death. No autopsy has been ordered.

Since Africanized honey bees entered the state 12 years ago, four people have died in Texas of stings suffered from honey bees that were at least partially Africanized. The stinging Monday was only the second AHB-related case reported in Wharton County since the bees were first found there in 1993. A man and a dog were stung in April 2001. The dog died.

Though it is not known what provoked Monday’s attack, since the bees had been residing there for more than a year, Jackson said that because it was Memorial Day, numerous people may have been coming and going from the home, making noises that disturbed the bees.

One hive could not be measured because it extended well into the walls of the home, he said, but the other measured about 18 inches by 10 feet.

“And they were raising a bunch of baby bees,” Jackson said. Typically, honey bees - whether Africanized or regular European – do not attack unless they feel the need to defend baby bees or honey supplies. “Maybe someone backed up to the hive and bumped it.” (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 5/31/02).

Tucson, AZ - DROUGHT IS MAKING AFRICANIZED BEES EVEN MORE DANGEROUS

Just one bee sting is bad enough but the Africanized bee has a dangerous dedication to strength in numbers---and the drought has made them concentrate in bigger, more dangerous hives.

For a little insect, africanized bees can cause a lot of trouble.

They can make their homes in our homes, then protect their hives with ferocious, swarming attacks that in extreme cases can kill.

Now as if they weren't aggressive enough, the drought's made the bees even more touchy and dangerous.

The dry winter killed off smaller, more vulnerable swarms. The big ones that survived are flying farther to find food and fighting harder to protect it.

"When forage and water are scarce they will branch out---as far as six miles in some cases,” says Tip Tisdale of AAA Africanized Bee Removal, “So we're seeing a lot more in terms of possessiveness of certain areas than we have before."

Possessiveness can mean trouble for you if you make these bad tempered bees think you're a threat to their home and their honey.

Bee experts say the drought has even prompted hives to produce a higher percentage of guard bees poised to rush out of the hive and attack anything perceived as a threat.

If one bee stings you you can bet there'll be more. Because that stinging bee puts out a chemical signal to other bees calling for reinforcements.

If bees do attack, your natural response may get you in deeper trouble.

-Do not swat at the bees. That will make them still more aggressive.

-Don't jump into water. Bees will just wait 'til you come up for air.

-Get in a house or a car as fast as you can.

Your best defense is to take away places to nest.

A hole in your house no larger than a pencil eraser can be enough to let bees into larger cavities where they'll build a hive.

Bee experts recommend checking your house and yard at least once a week for places bees might colonize.

“You want to look around your roof eaves,” says Tip Tisdale, “You want to look for cracks in your structure, particularly stucco on wood where the two substances meet. The bases of steel sheds, like in the wood sub flooring. Irrigation valve boxes, cracks in block walls and then the best defense is sealing."

If you already have a bee colony too close for comfort you need expert help to remove the threat.
Water hoses, gasoline, and do it yourself pesticides may only aggravate the bees and stir up an attack. (Craig Smith, KGUN TV-9 News Tucson, 5/24/02).

Tucson, AZ- KILLER BEE HIVE FOUND IN MIDTOWN

A killer bee scare in midtown Tucson has taught a few stung participants the right, and the wrong way to treat a hive.

A colony of Africanized bees was found near the Tucson Auto Mall on Tuesday, and a construction worker and a car salesman decided to take matters into their own hands before the authorities arrived. The result was a prime example of what not to do in when one encounters a hive of killer bees.

According to a bee expert, the two men made a crucial mistake when they decided to hose down the hive with water. This apparently only angers the bees and raises the odds of being stung.

Professional exterminators eventually took care of the hive with only a few people receiving stings and minor injuries. (KVOA-TV Tucson, AZ TV-4, 5/22/02.)

Phoenix, AZ - CHILD KILLED IN CRASH

Bees impede rescue

A 6-year-old boy died Thursday after the SUV he was riding in collided with a truck hauling machinery.

According to reports from the Mesa Fire Department, a mother and her four children were traveling west on McDowell Road in the SUV when it turned in front of the truck at Lindsay Road.

The truck lost control after hitting the SUV, running into a wall with a tree that contained a beehive.

Swarming bees made the rescue more difficult for paramedics, who had to suit up to help the five patients.

Casey Funk, 6, died at the scene.

Wendy Funk, who is five months pregnant, was transported to Maricopa Medical Center and is said to be in fair condition.

Children Jason Funk, 3, and Kaylee Funk, 22 months, were also airlifted to Maricopa Medical Center in critical condition.

Abbie Funk, 7, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and suffered minor injuries.

The accident is under investigation. (KTVK 3TV, WB6/61, ¡MÁS! Arizona; 5/17/02).

San Antonio, TX - BEES ATTACK TWO ON SOUTH SIDE
- Victims treated at scene - A swarm of bees Thursday attacked two people who were doing yard work in a South Side neighborhood.

A man said he was mowing his lawn in the 100 block of Devine when he accidentally disturbed a bee hive.

The man noticed the bees were going to attack him so he ran to a neighbor's house.

He then noticed the bees were attacking another neighbor, who was also working on her lawn, and he went to help her and was stung as well.

The man and the woman were stung numerous times. They were treated at the scene.

Vector control was called in to destroy the hive. (KSAT-TV 12 San Antonio, 4/25/02).

Dallas, TX - AFRICANIZED BEES CONTINUE ONSLAUGHT -

They look like other honey bees, but it doesn't take long to find out they're not.

"These boogers, they just swarm you, they're very aggressive," said Andre Clowers, a beekeeper called upon about three years ago to eradicate Africanized bees from an infested tree in the Dallas area.

"They stung me through my clothes and everything else," said Clowers, 74, of Kemp.

The insects' Texas takeover has been relentless despite a 12-year-old state quarantine that restricts the movement of commercial bee operations with the intent of limiting "killer bees."

Africanized bees have been migrating from South America since the 1950s. They look just like regular honey bees, but have quick tempers and are uncomfortable being around people or animals. Their advancement bees has spelled trouble for domestic beekeepers.

The Department of Agriculture warns that the Africanized bees could cost the U.S. industry up to $58 million a year. In Texas, the Africanized honey bee or a crossbred variety has killed four people since being discovered near Brownsville in 1990. More than 500 other people have been stung, and nearly 100 animals have been killed.

The aggressive bees compete with their domestic counterparts for nectar, eroding the native bees' honey production in the process. And while domestic bees put their energy into producing honey, Africanized bees concentrate on reproduction, said Danny Weaver, vice president of the Texas Beekeepers Association.

The quarantine zone now sprawls across most of the state, reaching near the Oklahoma border in northwest Texas. The aggressive insects have also been found in New Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona.

"There's always been a question of how far north they'll be able to live, how much farther they can go," said Kathleen Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in College Station. "It's not the cold so much as they have to have the food supply."

In Texas, which produces about 5 percent of U.S. honey, the quarantine allows beekeepers to move hives within but not out of the zone. The ban made sense years ago, but seems useless now that the quarantine engulfs such a wide area, said beekeeper David Lister of Arlington. Lister said the ban forces him to alter travel around Dallas-Fort Worth. For example, he must drop off bees he picks up in Ellis County, which is quarantined, before making a run to Denton County, which is not included in the ban.

"It's just a little bit of a headache for the beekeeper," he said. "A lot of beekeepers just think it's kind of silly."

Phillips said the quarantine raises public awareness and helps residents feel more secure. Officials plan to continue its use. No counties are ever removed from the ban, Phillips said, and won't be unless Africanized bees are found everywhere in the state, making the quarantine pointless.

That seemed an increasing likelihood as bees continue to be found in Texas counties, and Phillips said Texans will simply have to learn to live with them. "It's something we just have learn how to do," she said, "just like we avoid rattlesnakes or scorpions or whatever. (Matt Curry, AP, 4/24/02).

Las Vegas, NV - BEWARE OF BEES -

As the weather warms up and the winds calm down, some familiar pests will be taking flight.

It's bee season!

Last June, the Department of Agriculture declared bees in Southern Nevada 90% Africanized.

These bees can be aggressive and deadly. In fact, a Texas man died last month after being attacked by a swarm. Bee experts say these swarms are usually gentle. They have no food or young to protect, they're just looking for a place to nest.

If you encounter a swarm, don't go after it with a garden hose or can of bug spray, call a professional. Most bee keepers charge between $110 and $150 to remove the bees. (Shelley Bruner, FOX 5 KVVU-TV Las Vegas, 4/19/02).

St. George, UT - SCIENTISTS IN MESQUITE WATCH FOR SPREAD OF 'KILLER' HONEYBEES - So-called killer bees are getting closer to Utah's southern border. However, Africanized honeybees have yet to be found in Utah.

"It's a matter of when, not if," said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah State Department of Agriculture and Food. Rod Campbell, the department's quality compliance specialist, and State Entomologist Ed Bianco were in Cedar Pockets on Tuesday to replace an Africanized bee trap. There were no bees inside.

About 100 traps are placed around the state, mostly in the southern counties. Africanized bees have been found in Mesquite, Nev. The bees - sometimes called killer bees - are unusally aggressive.

Lewis said the venom from Africanized bees is the same as other bees but the difference is they attack in large groups, increasing the risk of death.

They are known for attacking the face. (AP, 4/10/02).

New Waverly, TX - WALKER COUNTY ADDED TO QUARANTINE LIST FOR AFRICANIZED BEES - Walker County was added Wednesday to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 140 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to Paul Jackson, chief inspector for the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Samples of bees taken in March from a tree at a home on Farm Road 2693 about 8 miles northeast of New Waverly were analyzed and found to be Africanized.

A man was stung about 25 times by the bees and a dog was stung to death in the incident, according to Bill Baxter, an inspector with TAIS.

The quarantine allows beekeepers to move beehives within, but not out of, the zone in an effort to prevent assisting the spread. Africanized honey bees look just like regular domestic honey bees but are more defensive in protecting their hives. State bee inspectors continue to monitor a series of bee traplines that extend across the state from Louisiana to New Mexico.

The Africanized bee was first detected in the United States near Brownsville in October 1990. Since then, the bee has spread through much of the state, along a line roughly from Houston to Lubbock to El Paso. Africanized honey bees also have been found in Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. (Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M Agriculture News, 4/10/02).

Houston, TX - BULLDOZER KILLS OPERATOR DURING BEE ATTACK
- Freak Accident Takes Life -

The operator of a bulldozer died Friday when he jumped off the machine to escape a swarm of bees and was crushed to death.

It happened around 9:15 a.m. at a construction site on Jones Road at Cypress North Houston in northwest Harris County.

Officials at the scene said that the bulldozer ran over Larry Webb, 22, who had accidentally backed into a ditch to escape the bees.

He apparently thought he had put the machine in park.

"He was trying to get away from these bees and he backed his bulldozer into a ditch and somehow he ended up underneath the bulldozer at the bottom of the ditch," said Asst. Chief Richard Leider with the Cy-Creek Fire Department.

Webb was clearing land in a Cy-Creek subdivision for B&L Services when he ran over a ground nest of bees.

Webb's father also worked for B&L Services and witnessed his son's death.

The effort to save Webb was hampered by the swarming bees, fire officials said.

"There was some other workers here on the scene that witnessed the accident and went to his aid with some other heavy equipment that was here on the site. They were unable to rescue him," Leider said.

Webb was the father of a 3-month-old. (KPRC Click2Houston.com, 3/29/02).

Phoenix, AZ - HUGE KILLER BEE HIVE FOUND IN SOUTH PHOENIX - Bee experts say a hive found in South Phoenix is one of the largest exposed colonies they've seen - APS workers first spotted the huge hive near 27th Avenue and South Mountain. It's five to six feet in length with 40,000 to 50,000-Africanized bees inside. Bees spend the winter re-populating, building their hive, and eating the honey supply they built in the summer and fall.

Experts are spraying calming agents and using smoke on the bees to keep them from swarming or becoming too active because they won't be removed until next week.

"I always tell people once a week walk around your property, perimeter boxes," says Derek Taylor of AAA Bee Removal Specialists. "Check meter boxes. Check around your eaves. Watch for bee activity going in and out of your structure somewhere. People can have something like this inside of their wall that they never really realize."

The sooner you catch the problem, the better. If you discover a hive and let it go until summer, the bees will become very aggressive, and honeycomb removal could be expensive because the hive will have grown and your walls may have to be torn down.

Never try to remove a colony yourself. Check the yellow pages for a state licensed bee removal company with experience in africanized bees. (KPNX-TV 12 Phoenix, 3/7/02.)

  Las Vegas, NV - BEES ON MOVE - A seasonal pest is already on the move in the valley. Bee complaints are coming in a bit earlier than last year. It's a potentially dangerous problem now that Africanized, or killer bees, are firmly entrenched in our area.

Now is the time to watch out while the plants are in bloom and experts say bees are looking for nesting sites. We took an interesting tour with a man who knows his stuff. A bee master who's spent 11 years studying, tracking, and learning all about the habits of bees. If tracking bees is detective work, Rodney Mehring is Sherlock Holmes. It's Mehring's business even if sometimes it's better to watch from a distance. In the southern part of the valley Mehring easily spots numerous colonies out in the desert. But the bees are not sticking to the desert. Mehring has already destroyed several swarms in the past week in residential neighborhoods.

The best defense is knowing your property. Bees like irrigation boxes, inside block walls, and under pots. If you think there's a problem, call an expert.

"The faster you take care of the problem.... The safer it's going to be," says Mehring. Mehring says there's no section of town immune that's from swarms.

And if the desert colonies are any indicator, Mehring knows he'll be a busy bee for the rest of the year. In fact he has a job this weekend where bees are nesting inside the walls of a local home.

Mehring says one of the worst cases he's ever seen involved 350 pounds of honey inside a wall. When that happens, bee removal is only part of the problem. Melting honey can cause thousands of dollars in damage to your home. That's something most homeowners’ insurance policies won't cover. Experts say be sure to treat every hive as though it is an Africanized. (Denise Rosch, KVBC-TV 3 Las Vegas, 2-28-02).

  Tucson, AZ - REVISED DISCLOSURE FORM ASKS ABOUT SPECIFIC PROBLEMS - Taking aim at home defects - Seen any scorpions, bee swarms, owls or rabid animals on your property? How about mold? If so, the Arizona Association of Realtors wants to know on a newly revised disclosure statement it asks of home sellers.

In January, the six-page form replaced an older one half its size and less detailed. The new Residential Seller's Property Disclosure Statement is intended to better help a potential buyer by providing more information about a home for sale.

"We did a major revamp on it," said Alice Brown, a branch manager for Coldwell Banker Success Southwest who was on the committee that helped revise the 1995 form. The new form asks sellers to provide more detailed information on the property's ownership, the home's structural safety, the surrounding environment and the types of utilities and waste disposal systems available. More specifically, it asks about termite infestation, mold damage and cracks or settling in foundations, walls or slabs. It also includes notes to buyers, informing them of additional reports they should get or tests they have done to better assess a home's condition.

Michelle Lind, general counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors, said information requested in the new form may help reduce liability claims against sellers. For example, a question that asks the seller's knowledge of pesky animals and insects on the property was added because of numerous lawsuits involving alleged non-disclosure of scorpions. And numerous claims from buyers alleging undisclosed roof defects led rewriters to include a notice, asking buyers to get roofs inspected. There is no law that requires sellers in Arizona to complete the disclosure statement but most do, Brown said.

"If a seller doesn't want to fill one out, an agent will give their buyer a (blank) copy to see what information they could have been given," she said. But even if the seller doesn't want to complete the form, he or she is still responsible for disclosing certain information, said Lind, the Arizona Association of Realtors attorney. "They are required by law to disclose all known material defects on the property," she said.

Real estate agents, too, are required to disclose such information or risk being sued and losing their real estate licens