ARCHIVE: 2005 AHB NEWS REPORTED IN THE MEDIA

(This list is not comprehensive; news headlines are capitalized; introductions are italicized)

DEPUTIES, SUSPECTS ATTACKED BY SWARM OF BEES

LANTANA, FL --- At least nine sheriff's deputies and three would-be burglars were attacked by a swarm of bees during a foot chase through a wooded area west of Lantana this afternoon, authorities said.

Three deputies were so badly stung that they had to be taken by ambulance to local hospitals for treatment, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The incident happened about 12:30 p.m. after a woman confronted three girls who were trying to break into her house at 6602 Waverly Lane in the Smith Farm development off Lantana Road, sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.

Deputies responded to her 911 call and chased the girls on foot. The chase led them through a wooded area, where the girls and eight or nine deputies were stung, along with a sheriff's K-9.

All were treated by Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue for their injuries. Only the three deputies required hospital treatment.

The three girls were arrested on charges of attempted burglary, Barbera said. (Andrew Marra, Palm Beach Post, 12/17/05.)

KILLER BEES FOUND IN TORRANCE COUNTY

ALBUQUERQUE, NM --- Africanized bees have been found in central New Mexico.

A Cooperative Extension Service entomologist in Las Cruces, Carol Sutherland, says the bees were found near several homes in the Estancia area of Torrance Couty last month.

She says DNA testing confirmed they were the aggressive Africanized species. They’re commonly called “killer” bees.

Africanized bees remain active in winter and can create dangerous swarms.

One swarm attacked three dogs near Las Cruces last month, and a puppy was killed.

Sutherland says the best way to avoid an attack is to reduce where bees can set up hives, such as piles of junk, old tires and abandoned buildings. (AP, 12/3/05.)

AFRICANIZED BEES ATTACK NEAR KAYLER SPRINGS, AZ

KAYLER SPRINGS, AZ - Bee experts at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson believe Africanized honeybees are in Arizona to stay.

Early in the afternoon on Oct. 8, Robert Rupe found out about the bees the hard way while quail hunting in Kayler Butte near Tonto Basin.

"When I got near Kayler Springs, they attacked me. I didn't get to see the water. They were on me before I could get to the water," said Rupe.

"(It) was a really hot day, and I was anticipating getting in that stream and getting cooled off," he said. "I've been an outdoorsman all my life. I've been hunting there 50 years and never encountered anything like this before."

The bees swarmed, then stung Rupe without warning.

"They were just like dive-bombers, kamikazes."

Rupe then had an uphill climb to get away from them. He crossed over two barbed wire fences, getting his legs tangled, and in the process, fell backwards into some cactus.

Tired, thirsty and sick to his stomach, it took him five hours to reach his vehicle.

"I had to use my shotgun as a crutch to get uphill," Rupe said.

He and his wife counted approximately 50 bee stings when he made it home. (The average person can tolerate approximately 10 stings per pound of body weight.)

By Thursday, he couldn't stand the discomfort, and was treated by his doctor with antibiotics and allergy shots.

Rupe wonders who is responsible for removal of the bees, and worries that they are a danger to wildlife that comes to drink at Kayler Springs.

"Most of the bees that are encountered out in the field these days are Africanized bees," said Randy Babb, biologist with Arizona Game and Fish.

"We don't do invertebrates. That's probably the Department of Agriculture."

"Before budget cuts, we actually used to regulate bees. Now we have no jurisdiction over them," said Katie Decker, public information officer at the Arizona Department of Agriculture. "They have been monitored closely at the Tucson bee lab."

Yet the CHBRC is no longer keeping statistics. It does not keep a list of reported sightings or attacks since Arizona was declared infested back in the early 1990s.

"Whoever owns the property is responsible to remove (the bees)," said CHBRC secretary Diane Medley.

Kayler Springs and Butte are located on national forest land, but the forest service considers the bees to be part of the landscape, according to Vinnie Picard, deputy public affairs officer.

"Sometimes we coordinate the removal of bees (with the agriculture department) if the bees are near a rest area or popular trailhead, but in general, probably not," said Picard.

He said he did not believe there was any danger to animals from the bees. (Carol La Valley, The Payson Roundup, 10/21/05.)

BEES PROVE DEADLY IN ATTACK ON DOG

VENICE, FL --- On Friday, new Venice resident Pat Starr lost her 2-year-old puppy to an unusual killer: bees.

And it looks as if the aggressive new mix of the African "Killer" Bee and the typical European honey bee may have found a new home in South Venice.

Starr realized that her mini-daschund mix, J.R., was missing Friday after seeing he had pulled his chain out of the ground. She was horrified at what she found.

"I'll never get that picture out of my head of my dog lying on the ground crying, covered with bees," Starr said through sobs.

J.R. had wandered into the neighbor's back yard, where a large bee hive hung only a few feet off the ground, attached to an old piece of lumber.

Starr did all she could to save her suffering pup.

"I kept telling him that mommy's coming, mommy's coming," Starr cried. "I felt so helpless, I couldn't save him. They killed my dog. He didn't deserve that."

Starr received several bee stings in her attempts to save J.R.

"My husband is still picking stingers out of my face," Starr said. "They're in my face, arms, head -- everywhere."

A nearby neighbor saw Starr trying to save J.R. and came running with a hose to wash the bees off the dog. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done: J.R. had been stung several hundred times.

Starr scooped up her pup and drove him to the nearest hospital.

"I gave him mouth-to-mouth when he was born because he had problems breathing. ... I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth on the way to the vet, too," Starr said.

But this time, Starr could not save her beloved pet.

"He was the sweetest pup in the world," Starr said. "It's not fair. My pup didn't deserve it."

Starr's agonizing experience was made worse when she found out that the neighbor, whose property the nest resided on, had known about the hive and chosen not to remove it.

"Some child could get hurt," Starr said. "Why didn't somebody do something?"

200-300 stings

No one is sure what J.R. could have done to provoke the bees, but according to the Ark Animal Hospital vet and former beekeeper Dr. Robert J. Greenwald, the bees showed no mercy.

"The dog was stung between 200-300 times. ... The thing that concerns me here is that bees are never so aggressive that they sting you 200-300 times," Greenwald said. "Usually you hear of 15-20 stings. It could have easily been an adult or a child."

Greenwald believes that the likelihood that these bees are the Africanized honey bees is very high.

"I think it's very possible that it's Africanized (honey) bees," Greenwald said. "If Africanized (honey) bees are in this area, it's not just that colony that we have to worry about."

Local bee remover and biologist Bob Von Der Herchen agrees that it sounds likely that J.R.'s death was a result of the Africanized honey bee.

Von Der Herchen headed out to Starr's house Monday afternoon to take a sample bee and send it to Texas for genetic testing. This will determine if the bees are, in fact, the Africanized honey bees.

"We are starting to get them in the area ... some in Bradenton and in Lee County," Von Der Herchen said. "It's just a matter of time before they are here, if they are not already. I did encounter, in South Venice, some very aggressive bees recently."

Not the first time

This is not the first time that Florida pets have been killed by an angry swarm of bees.

In early September, a swarm of Africanized honey bees attacked and killed two Miami Gardens dogs. Several residents also were injured, but they narrowly escaped by ducking into a nearby house.

According to an article in the Miami Herald, three adults were taken to the hospital and treated for stings. The article also states that professional apiarist Adrian Valero had destroyed three other Africanized honey bee hives in South Florida within a month of the event in September.

Good news?

Since the hive was not on their property, there was not much the Starrs could do to have it removed. Hiring a pest company would have cost a minimum of $200, on top of the $300 in vet bills they are already facing. Even if the Starrs agreed to pay the removal fee, a pest control company would need permission from the home owner to enter the property.

After calling the county animal control and being turned away because bees are "insects not animals," they took action into their own hands.

The Starrs bought four cans of wasp remover, covered themselves up for protection and emptied the four cans onto the honeycombs. This, of course, is a dangerous way to handle it.

The Starrs were unaware that their efforts had worked until Herchen went out to inspect and remove the bees for free. What he found was that almost all of them were already gone.

This may not be as good as it sounds. Von Der Herchen believes that they have just moved to a new location to build another hive.

"I didn't see any dead bees," Von Der Herchen said.

Starr is happy to have the bees leave her neighborhood, but also fearful that another pet -- or even a child -- may be the next one injured.

Von Der Herchen is awaiting the lab results to verify that these bees were Africanized honey bees. However, even if all the signs are wrong and they turn out to be average honey bees, the fact that they are capable of this kind of destruction is still very alarming, he said.(Christina Elwell, The Venice Gondolier, 10/19/05.)

KILLER BEES ARE A SCIENTIFIC MISTAKE

VENICE, FL --- Back in 1957, a Brazilian scientist thought agricultural practices in his country might be improved if a better bee could be found.

In Africa, he thought he found his bee.

The African honey bee seemed better suited than the prevailing European honey bee for Brazil's hot climate. So the scientist purchased a number of bees and brought them to Brazil.

There was one queen in particular that seemed nastier even than the other ill-tempered bees. She had the others killed off until she reigned over the colony. And it was this queen -- the mother of all killer bees -- that escaped her captivity and began feral colonies in Brazilian forests.

From there, the bees spread throughout South, Central and North America, many hitching rides on cargo ships. They arrived in the United States in October 1990, in Texas.

On July 15, 1993, 82-year-old Lino Lopez became the first person to die in this country from a killer bee attack. He was trying to remove a bee colony from the wall of an abandoned building when he was swarmed.

Every year since, newspapers have carried the stories of attacks and deaths. The best archive is at stingshield.com with accounts from 1996 forward. The summaries that follow are from those accounts. There are hundreds more.

* In Los Angeles, Calif., tens of thousands of bees attacked a neighborhood and firefighters cordoned off a four-block area. Thirteen people were stung and two dogs killed by the bees. "It was pandemonium," the fire chief said of the scene. "Everywhere you looked, bees were attacking."

* In Bisbee, Ariz., a swarm of Africanized bees attacked pedestrians, motorists -- even pigeons in flight. "I have never experienced or heard anything like what happened here today -- the panic, the fear," said Sgt. Ben Reyna of the Bisbee Police Department.

* In Tucson, Ariz., a woman who had complained of problem bees in a vacant house next door watched her black Labrador be stung to death. "The bees were in his mouth and ears and eyes, and his whole body was just brown with bees. It was a living nightmare, like you see in the movies," Carole Davies said.

* In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a 4-year-old boy was swarmed by killer bees while playing with his dog, Chocolate. Police said the dog knocked the boy down and jumped atop him, shielding him from the bees as it endured the stings. Kharin Toloza lived; Chocolate was killed by the bees.

* In Mesa, Ariz., an 88-year-old man was stung in the face by a swarm of more than 100 bees in a scene straight from a science-fiction movie. "I would describe him as having a hive of bees on his face. You could not see his eyes or his nose," said Mesa firefighter Chris Mapel. "It was like a hive being taken out of a tree and placed on his head."

* In Newberry Springs, Calif., killer bees took residence in a lakeside child's playhouse and attacked as two small girls went inside it. A parent grabbed the girls and threw them into the lake. Two men held the girls under water and the men were stung repeatedly. "They'd go in the water and the bees just hung on," a witness said. "They got in their nose, their ears, their mouths and just wouldn't let go." Everyone survived. A 4-year-old "had them in her nose, her tongue, even had them in her eyelids," a doctor said.

* In Scottsdale, Ariz., a man under attack by a swarm of bees ran into traffic and was struck by a car. He survived. In Ahwatukee, Ariz., a 13-year-old boy attacked by a swarm of bees ran into traffic. He was struck and killed by a van.

* In Richmond, Texas, a rancher on his tractor was attacked. He fell off the tractor and was fatally run over by a shredder being towed. In Houston, Texas, a man operating a bulldozer jumped off after a bee swarm attacked him. The bulldozer continued on and ran over him, crushing him to death.

* In Parker County, Texas, Mike Kavanaugh was mowing his pasture when attacked. His daughter, Ashley, 19, found him. "He was covered from head to toe with bees," she said. Kavanaugh was partially paralyzed. The bees brought him down as he tried to reach his wheelchair.

* In Sunizona, Ariz., Ted Richard and Cheryl McClain were soon to be married and were preparing to move into a house next to her father's. They were placing material in a shed. Ted heard screams. He turned to see Cheryl covered with bees, which attacked him. Both fell to the ground in agony. "She had a water hose," he said from a hospital bed, "trying to spray herself off and then she stopped and 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." She was 46.

* In El Campo, Texas, Francis Hernandez was enjoying a family picnic in her back yard when a swarm of killer bees struck her. Her mother was asleep nearby. "I opened my eyes and it was nothing but a cloud of bees around her," the mother said. "Francis had bees all over her. It was like a nightmare. I still can't believe it." Francis was blind and mentally handicapped. She was 36 when she died. (Robert Bowden, Venice Gondolier, 10/19/05.)

"KILLER" BEES STRIKE CLOSER TO COLORADO

SANTE FE, NM - Joel Simko danced wildly across the roof of the house, spinning and hopping past the chimney and frantically waving his long arms over his head. Soon, the lanky man's dance was accompanied by a great chorus of loud screaming and cursing as a swarm of bees dove onto his head and face.

His ladder was leaned up against the gutter, and he hit the top rung on a dead run. The ladder slid, and the pest-control worker found himself plunging 15 feet toward the ground, bolts of pain shooting through his face and neck as the roar of the swarm grew louder around his head.

In a scientific discovery of some note, Simko unwittingly found what entomologists believe is one of the northernmost hives of Africanized bees in the western United States, a huge swarm that had settled into a gated community just north of this art mecca.

On a slightly less-scientific note, Simko floundered on the ground, shrieking and thrashing as the attack raged on.

He fought back with the only weapon he had - a baseball cap, swinging it to get the bees off his face.

"When they got me down, they really came after me," he said. "It was like they knew they had me in a vulnerable position."

A fine observation, according to New Mexico State University entomologist and African bee expert Carol Sutherland.

"These bees," she said, "are rank, rugged, wild animals. They attack the eyes and head of whatever they perceive as a threat.

"They try to disorient their attacker and stop it from running away. And then they get it down on the ground, and they overwhelm it and kill it."

Simko got lucky on that hot August day. He fought his way back to his feet and lurched 25 yards back to his truck. But the fight wasn't over. A number of bees pursued him into the truck through an open door. Simko said six of them quickly stung his face and head.

As he slammed the door and pounded away at those bees with his hat, hundreds of others massed on the windows and windshield, searching for a crack that would get them inside.

"It was like being in a science fiction movie," Simko said. "It was absolutely terrifying."

A few weeks ago, entomologists at Oklahoma State University confirmed through DNA testing what Simko suspected. The attackers - Sutherland sent six bee corpses to OSU experts - were indeed descendants of the 26 colonies of volatile Africanized bees transported to Brazil in 1955. Those bees escaped from their experimental hives a year later and began a relentless and deadly northward migration through South and Central America, into Mexico and then into the United States along the Texas border in 1990.

The bees have, according to scientists at the Smithsonian Institution, killed at least 1,000 people - most in areas where homes and cars aren't available as sanctuary in an attack.

By next summer, it is very likely the bees will discover Colorado. "This is as close to Colorado as we know they've come," said Sutherland. "And they'll get there one way or another. They'll keep moving in a natural way to find more food, like wildflowers, and water. Or a small colony will get under the canvas tarp of a big truck and hitch a ride north. We know they've done that in other places. They're very adaptable."

Brian Gianardi is a construction supervisor who was attacked the same day by the same swarm that had Simko shuffling across the roof of the home 15 miles northwest of the city.

The homeowners were at their other residence in San Francisco, giving Gianardi and Simko time to dig in for the weeks-long battle against the raging bees - Sutherland estimated there could have been "tens of thousands" of bees in the colony, though no one knows for sure - that built a hive on the front porch.

"The first thing I see," said Gianardi, "is a plumber's assistant get out of his truck and start yelling and running around, waving his hands over his head. To be honest, I thought it was pretty funny. Then the bees came after me and started stinging ... and it wasn't so funny anymore."

Eventually, Simko brought a bee suit from the New Mexico Pest Control facility where he works. Gianardi donned the suit and headed for the hive.

"I'm swinging a broom at them, and they just went nuts," he said. "Thousands of them are dive-bombing me, aiming for my face.

"They're bouncing off the wire face mask and the helmet. It sounded like popcorn popping. They were in total attack mode."

Simko didn't go to the hospital but said he felt sick and as though he were suffering a heart attack the night after the bee attack.

Sutherland said the men were lucky.

"A lot of bad things happen to people in that situation," she said. "When these Africanized bees sting, it releases a venom the others can smell. When they smell that chemical, they go into a rage and they all attack. The more they sting, the more agitated the colony becomes."

Simko and Sutherland said last week that the Africanized bees are no longer at the house - having packed up and flown off to parts unknown.

Today, Simko, whose face was badly swollen after the attack, has recovered.

Except for his lingering fear of small aircraft.

"The horrible buzzing as they attacked me, that's what I remember," he said.

"When I'm outside now and hear anything like that, I get pretty jumpy. The other day a Piper Cub flew overhead, and I felt that split-second of terror." (Rich Tosches, Denver Post, 10/16/05.)

KILLER BEES FOUND IN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

Arroyo Grande, CA --- It's been long predicted, and now, it's been confirmed. Killer bees have been found in San Luis Obispo County.

A sample of unusually aggressive honeybees was collected in rural Arroyo Grande. Beekeeper Tim Vaughn found the bees in hive boxes, far from any people or domestic animals. The sample was confirmed through lab analysis by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to be Africanized honey bees, or killer bees. Vaughn immediately began working to reduce the hive population.

Africanized honey bees look the same and have the same venom as other types of honey bees. One difference, however, is where they like to set up their hives.

"One red flag for people to look for is that the Africanized bees like to look for a new house in the ground, so if you see a hive in an underground water meter, or a gas meter, that's a red flag and you probably want to exterminated that hive," said Tim Vaughn, beekeeper.

Another sign is their behavior. Africanized honey bees are more defensive in protecting their hives, guard a larger area around their hives and swarm faster than other types of honey bees if provoked. The only way to tell the difference between honey bees and killer bees is through a DNA test.

Vaughn says like other types of honey bees, a killer bee can only sting once before dying. He says it will take about 2,000 killer bee stings to kill a person.

Africanized bees are more aggressive than regular bees. To avoid getting stung, you should follow the same kind of precautions around their more docile cousins. First give bees respect and discourage them from making your home, their home.

If a swarm chases you, run in a straight direction, cover your head, and go indoors. Call a pest control company if you have an infestation. If you get stung, remove the stinger and wash the sting with soap and water. If you're allergic to bees, you should see a doctor. (By: Kimberly Romo, KSBY-TV News 6, 10/13/05.)

BEEKEEPER HASN'T FOUND KILLER BEES HERE

ARCADIA, FL --- Africanized "killer" bees might be a fact of life for Florida, but beekeeper Tom Peterson said he hasn't seen them yet in this area.

Peterson owns and operates Peterson's Honey on County Road 661 a few miles west of Arcadia.

His hives are moved around in DeSoto, Charlotte and Sarasota areas. The tastiest honey comes during orange blossom time, he said, but the bees stay busy this time of year with palmetto blooms.

Peterson said his hives and operation are inspected annually by officials of the state of Florida, and no Africanized bees have been found. He also has not noticed the characteristic aggressive behavior that would indicate African bees had bred with his more docile European bees.

It was only this summer that state officials said Florida had been invaded by Africanized bees, despite 22 years of sporadic captures in the state. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson made it official in a public advisory, saying residents here must learn to live with the Africanized bees.

Bad bees

It's a bee breed with a deserved bad reputation.

In May, a swarm of Africanized bees killed a horse in a pasture near LaBelle. In July, a swarm attacked a man working in a Palm Beach County field. He survived to say the swarm was "the size of a building."

Since its introduction into this hemisphere in 1957 -- an escapee from a Brazilian scientific experiment -- the bee is said to have killed more than 1,000 people and 100,000 cattle as it spread throughout South, Central and parts of North America.

Arizona, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and California have dealt with killer bees for decades now and have much to teach Florida about living with the deadly insect.

The "Southwestern states are the templates for what living with a hybridized honey bee in Florida might be like," Bronson said.

In some of those states, the problem is so severe that all feral colonies are considered Africanized. If found near people, the bees are killed by firefighters using a chemical foam containing detergent. The detergent removes oil from the bees and they suffocate within 60 seconds.

On the scent

At the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Ariz., Dr. Justin Schmidt wondered six years ago if he couldn't isolate the scent, called a pheromone and smelling like a banana, that Africanized bees are attracted to. Using sophisticated gas analyzers, he found the pheromone and was able to chemically reproduce it.

It's now used inside what are called "swarm traps."

"We developed a simple, inexpensive trap with a pheromone lure to attract swarms looking for new nest sites," Schmidt said.

A company called Beemaster took Schmidt's discovery and introduced a commercial swarm trap. The pheromone will not be sold to individuals (it could be a terrorist weapon), but Beemaster obtains it and creates traps made partly from recycled newsprint.

These traps are widely used near schools, parks, golf courses and botanical gardens in the Southwest. Killer bees will swarm to the traps and then can be disposed of.

A single trap is $24.95, and bulk purchases are available at pestcontrol-products.com.

Bronson's state agency uses swarm traps to follow the spread of the killer bees. There are 500 traps now located near all Florida ports and along Interstate 10 in North Florida, plus near the Alabama-Florida border. Each trap is checked every third week.

Statewide, about 10 percent of all bees captured are Africanized, tests show.

Stowaways

Bronson said he doesn't believe the killer bees migrated to Florida along the Gulf Coast from Texas. Migration seemed to stop at the Louisiana-Texas border years ago, and one scientist, Jose D. Villa with the United States Department of Agriculture, found a correlation with rainfall.

"Rainfall over 55 inches," he wrote in publications sent to beekeepers, "distributed evenly throughout the year, is almost a complete barrier to (Africanized bee) spread."

It isn't just total rainfall, he said, that is important. It's the total and the fact that it occurs evenly all year. South Florida, he said before the current invasion became known, "would be hospitable to the bees given its temperature and rainfall."

That has proven the case.

LaBelle, where the horse was stung to death, is in Hendry County, located in South Florida. When the state tested bee populations in that county following the fatal attack, almost half the bees had African bee DNA.

Bronson said while there are several ways killer bees could have reached Florida, he believes beekeepers are bringing in the Africanized bees in hives they move around the country for pollination purposes, "particularly from almond orchards in California where the Africanized honey bee is already established."

Peterson agrees.

"That makes sense to me," he said. "They get in the colony and it's returned to Florida."

Peterson does not ship his hives around the country, as some beekeepers do. (Robert Bowden, Venice Gondolier Sun, 10/12/05.)

'KILLER' BEES FOUND NEAR SANTA FE

SANTA FE, NM -- A New Mexico State University entomologist has confirmed Africanized honey bees at a home in a subdivision northwest of Santa Fe.

New Mexico's first swarm of Africanized honey bees was found in 1993 in Hidalgo County. Since then, they have spread to 12 New Mexico counties, recently reaching rural Roosevelt County, and are likely to continue buzzing their way north.

"They're well established and will be in New Mexico for the foreseeable future," said Carol Sutherland, an entomologist with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service.

Africanized honey bees were brought to Brazil in 1956 by an entomologist hoping to bolster honey production.

The bees escaped a research park the next year and have migrated north and west ever since. They first entered the United States at Hidalgo, Texas, in October 1990.

Domestic bees, bred for gentleness and honey production, have lived among people for thousands of years, Sutherland said in a news release by the extension service. Africanized bees are wild and aren't comfortable around people or animals.

Highly protective of their hives, Africanized bees are more likely to sense a threat at greater distances, become agitated quicker and sting in greater numbers. Safety around bees depends on knowing what to do long before an encounter occurs.

"Avoid areas where bees are foraging and avoid disturbing them, if possible," Sutherland said. "Learn to look and listen for bee activity wherever you happen to be. And if you find yourself in a situation where bees are numerous, noisy or acting strangely, escape to safety as quickly as you can. Run and don't stop until you reach safety, such as a building with doors and windows that close." ( Staci Matlock, The New Mexican, 10/7/05.)

BEES RAISE CONCERNS FOR COUNTY OFFICIALS

ROOSEVELT COUNTY, NM --- An unusual amount of buzzing is going on around the county and county officials are receiving many calls about bee problems.

Floyd McAlister, Roosevelt County ag extension agent, reported an unusual amount of calls about bees in Roosevelt County during the county commission meeting on Tuesday morning.

“I know we have received several calls on Africanized bees,” McAlister said. “I have received more calls on bees this summer than any other year in the 20 years that I have been here. The Africanized bees are here and they’re here to stay.”

McAlister said an Eastern New Mexico University worker was stung 30 times by bees while he was working at the Lewis Cooper Rodeo Arena. The Africanized bee species was first discovered in Roosevelt County in the Causey-Lingo area, approximately 30 miles southeast of Portales, in July.

McAlister said he received three calls on Monday about possible Africanized bees. McAlister said nothing about the bees’ appearance alone can determine the difference between an Africanized bee and a European honey bee.

“It’s impossible to tell whether they’re regular bees or Africanized bees,” McAlister said. “We’ve sent six samples to the lab and had one returned. It was an Africanized bee.”

Samples are sent to entomologists at the New Mexico State University Extension office in Las Cruces.

This is a nationwide epidemic. In early August race car driver A.J. Foyt was stung by nearly 200 bees, according to an Associated Press report.

Bee attacks have been reported in Carlsbad, Artesia and Portales this year. Bees attacked three Artesia police officers, one Eddy County Sheriff’s deputy and two civilians on Thursday, according to another AP report.

“They look exactly alike (regular bees and Africanized bees),” McAlister said. “You can only tell by their behavior. They (Africanized bees) are vicious. Africanized bees will go to the head and neck.”

Jene Evans of Kenna found nearly 80,000 bees by her house in late June. In cases where people find bees the best option is to contact the Portales Fire Department at 356-4406 or the extension office at 356-4417 so the problem could be handled properly. (Tony Parra, Portales News-Tribune, 9/21/05.)

FEW OPTIONS WHEN CONFRONTED BY BEES

TEMECULA, CA ---- Run. That's the advice a county official had Monday for anyone confronted with a swarm of angry bees.

"Just get the heck out of there and run," Michele Tracy, a Riverside County agricultural and standards investigator said. "You aren't going to be able to completely outrun all of the bees, but you can get away from the bulk of them.

"Cover your head and face with whatever you can, like a jacket," she said. "Bees typically will go for the head and face."

On Friday, two men doing landscape work were hospitalized after stumbling upon a large underground hive and being stung dozens of times. The pair were working on a slope along the east side of Butterfield Stage Road about 100 yards north of Crowne Hill Drive in Temecula.

Grant Yates, assistant to the city manager, said Monday that the two men, who were employed by Excel Landscaping, a private company that contracts with the city of Temecula for landscaping work, were released from Rancho Springs Medical Center on Friday.

A woman who answered the phone at Excel Landscaping said they were "fine," but declined to offer any other information, including their names and ages and what exactly transpired before the bee attack.

The large hive was located inside an underground reclaimed water tank, part of which consists of a purple cylinder that sticks above ground about three feet with holes the size of dimes through which bees can enter and exit. Somehow the two men angered the bees or disturbed the hive, prompting the bees to attack them, officials have said.

Tracy said Monday that underground tanks like that one, as well as underground cable and electrical boxes, seem to be a common spot for hives.

If someone sees even a small number of bees going in and out of a particular area, they should be concerned about the possibility of a hive nearby.

"Just be aware of your surroundings," she said.

Once a swarm is disturbed and the bees attack a person, Tracy said the key is to get away and find a vehicle or building to get into.

She recommends a vehicle rather than a house or other building when possible because there could be other people attacked inside a building.

Once safely inside an enclosed area like a car, "you can at least kill the ones that are inside" and avoid any others that are still outside, Tracy said.

The city of Temecula will not be conducting tests to see if the bees were "Africanized," something the city was considering Friday, Yates said Monday.

He said he learned Monday that county health officials consider all bees in the region to be Africanized, so the tests are not needed.

Africanized bees have been characterized as aggressive, especially when defending a food source or their hive, educators have said in past interviews.

Africanized bees first appeared in Riverside County in 1994, when they were spotted in Blythe. The bees are the result of an effort to breed a bee that would produce more honey in a tropical climate. Stray swarms of the aggressive breed that escaped from beekeepers in Brazil have made their way north since the 1950s.

Yates said the attack serves as a reminder that bees and beehives should be taken seriously. People who observe a swarm of bees should call the city's code enforcement department at (951) 694-6444.

A spokeswoman at the city's code enforcement office said Monday that they have not received any calls of bee hives or swarms since Friday's incident. (Jennifer Kabbany and John Hall, North County Times, 9/19/05.)

AFRICANIZED SWARM STINGS FIVE PEOPLE, THREE HORSES

PHELAN, CA — Neighbors here report bees attacked and stung at least five people and three horses.

Phelan resident Paula Bennett said she was sitting in her front yard Wednesday when she heard neighbor Brian Barron screaming for help.

"He was covered in hundreds if not thousands of bees," Bennett said. "He was asking for help, and the bees were just being really aggressive."

Bennett and other neighbors helped Barron by spraying the bees and removing his clothing. Still, some of the bees would not cease in their attack.

"These bees were the most aggressive I have ever seen," said resident Tom Fracasso. "They just kept on coming back to try to sting people."

The incident began when Barron used a tractor to remove a storage container from a shed near his residence. The dust and noise prevented Barron from noticing the bee hive near the container.

"I looked at my hand, and about 50 to 100 bees were covering my skin," he said. "Before I knew it, I was covered in bees and I had to get down from the tractor and start running for help."

Barron was stung 11 times.

"I just feel the pain of the stings, but other than that I am OK," he said.

While rescuing Barron from the bees, Fracasso and three other good Samaritans were stung at least twice each. The bees also attacked horses on Barron's property.

"One of the horses was attacked by the bees, broke down the corral, and escaped," Bennett said.

Another horse was stung multiple times and is now in guarded condition while receiving treatment, Fracasso said. An exterminator was called to the home on Mono Street.

"The exterminator told us the bees were Africanized. They were really big and dark," Fracasso indicated.

Barron said nobody had any allergic reactions to the incident.

"Everybody is OK and the horses are getting medicine, and we want to let people know that there might be more bees in the area," he said. (By Miguel Gonzalez, Staff Writer, Daily Press, 9/16/05.)

BEES ATTACK WOMAN IN LOWER VALLEY

EL PASO, TX ---- An elderly woman is recovering from more than 100 stings in a horrific bee attack Tuesday evening outside her Lower Valley home, her family said.

The bees were so aggressive, a witness said, they covered the woman's face, got into her mouth, hair and ears, and some went along in the ambulance to the emergency room.

"It was just unbelievable ... The swarm just kept coming and kept coming," said Johanna Puga-Martinez, 25, who used a garden hose to help rescue her neighbor Connie Bermes.

"Through an act of selflessness, this lady single-handedly saved my grandmother's life and in my eyes is a true hero," Melissa Quintero said in an e-mail to the El Paso Times.

Bermes, 82, was working in her back yard in the 8100 block of Algerita Court when she was attacked by bees living in a hollow tree by a ditch behind her home, said her son Allen Bermes, a retired El Paso deputy fire chief.

He said a crew was mowing grass at the spot earlier in the day.

The bees chased Bermes into her home, her son said. She ran out and knocked on a neighbor's door but they wouldn't open out of fear. They had a baby.

Then, Puga-Martinez, with her three young children -- two girls, ages 4 and 22 months and 10-year-old Sergio Fraire -- drove up to their home so Sergio could grab a book.

Sergio got to the front door, but sprinted back into the car after being stung by a bee.

"As soon as I looked up, a swarm of bees was coming after him," Puga-Martinez said. She then saw Bermes with her face masked by bees. "She was moving slowly. All she did was tap my car like to say 'help me.' "

Puga-Martinez ran out of the car and got a water hose to hold off the swarm as Bermes collapsed to the ground. Puga-Martinez was stung more than 20 times in the process.

Sergio called 911 from his mom's cell phone in the car. His dad Frank Martinez drove up, went into the house through a back window, opened the front door and helped the women get inside. The bees tried to follow.

"The bees were hitting (the door) hard like somebody was knocking on the door," Puga-Martinez said. Firefighters showed up and the swarm was dispersed.

It was unknown if the swarm was of Africanized bees, or killer bees, fire Lt. Mario E. Hernandez said. Bees are most active in the spring and fall. There were two other bee emergency calls Wednesday, but no one was injured. (Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times, 9/15/05.)

SWARM OF BEES TAKE OVER INTERSECTION, ATTACK OFFICERS

ARTESIA, N.M. -- A swarm of thousands of angry bees took over an intersection in southeast New Mexico and went into attack mode.

Police in the town of Artesia, and a Eddy County Sheriff's deputy were responding to a call of suspicious activity around 1:30 Wednesday afternoon. When they got out of their cars, officers were attacked.

The bees came from a hive hanging under a wishing well in the front yard of a nearby home.

“Three of our officers were stung several times by the bees,” says Sgt. Richard Martinez of the Artesia Police Department. “The Eddy County Deputy Sheriff was also stung by the bee. We sent a couple of them to the hospital with bee stings. One of our officers is allergic to bee stings.”

Two civilians were also strung and a two block area was sealed off.

A pest control company came and sprayed the estimated 80,000 bees.

Tests will be done to determine if they were Africanized, or so-call "killer bees." (KRQE News 13, 9/14/05.)

HURRICANE BLOWS IN KILLER BEES; HOMEOWNERS INJURED, PETS KILLED
Firefighter: "Swarm Of Bees Just Covered Fire Truck"

MIAMI, FL --- A large swarm of Africanized bees that experts believe were blown into Florida by Hurricane Katrina killed two dogs and injured several homeowners in South Florida this week, according to a Local 6 News report.

The killer bees took refuge in a hollow log in Miami Gardens after the storm, officials said.

When a professional bee handler tried the take care of the problem, they attacked residents, reporters, firefighters and pets. Two dogs were killed by the stings and neighbors were stung, officials said.

"It's scary because you get a lot of bites, the house is full of bees right there now," neighbor Franklin Rutherford said.

Lt. Eric Baum of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the swarm was so thick when firefighters arrived on the scene they could barely see out their windows.

"When our fire truck arrived, the officers and firefighters just saw a swarm of bees just cover the fire truck. Visibility was limited. Bees were all over," Baum said.

Two men and a woman at the house were treated for multiple stings. The firefighters had to put on full bunker gear covering every part of their body before venturing out of the truck.

A beekeeper called to remove the bees didn't realize they were killer bees until after he began his work.

By the time firefighters set fire to the log, beekeeper Adrian Valero said the queen had escaped to a tree in the backyard. He said where the queen goes the hive follows.

"They are more aggressive than the regular ones. If you disturb them for any reason they attack faster than the regular ones," Valero said.

He was able to kill the colony using a chemical fogger. (WKMG-TV 6 News Orlando, 9/9/05.)

BEES ATTACK MAN, DOGS, OFFICERS HERE SUNDAY

ALPINE, TX ---- On Sunday afternoon, the buzz around town was about more than just the annual balloon festival.

Around noon on Sunday, the city's animal control department and local firemen/EMS were contacted regarding a man and dog being stung by bees.

Once on the scene, Animal Control Officer Carin Crain and local authorities blocked off the area.

At the time, Crain was the only person wearing a bee suit.

"Once there, we got the man out of the house," Crain said. "He was having a hard time breathing and both dogs taken in were his dogs. Apparently, the man was asked to mow the grass and spray the bees if he saw any. Well, he did that and they went after him, and we had to send him to the hospital."

The beehive was found under a trailer on the 1600 block of Cotter at Murphy as the bees were coming out of the side of the trailer.

"We had to pull the siding off and found honeycomb that was three feet by three feet deep," Crain said. "The bees then began attacking the cell phone and radio."

Once Crain and fellow Animal Control Officer Newdrian Thomas killed the hive, they surveyed the damage.

"Once we killed the hive, there were still some stragglers but we got a majority of them," Crain said. "What people need to realize is that when they call in, they need to say if multiple bees attacked them or if it was just a single bee."

Before Crain arrived on the scene, a local fireman had been stung 20 to 30 times while walking off the porch.

"We made sure we had all the animals and then sent them to the vet," Crain said. "There were a lot of people stung by the bee attack, including the man that called, myself, Thomas and a female firefighter. I was stung in the face and the arms through the bee suit. We assume that the reason the bees got into the suit is because we were being sprayed down and somehow that affected the velcro in the suit. The bees were very aggressive."

Crain sought further attention at Big Bend Regional Medical Center.

"When you get stung by a bee, you are supposed to scrape the stinger out, not just pull it out because that can cause more venom to be squeezed into the affected area," Crain said. (Denton Ramsey, The Alpine Avalanche, 9/8/05.)

EYE ON RESEARCH: 'KILLER' BEES NOW FOUND THROUGHOUT NM

NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, NM --- A dozen years after they were first discovered in New Mexico, aggressive, Africanized “killer bees” have spread to 12 counties, recently reaching rural Roosevelt County, and are likely to continue buzzing their way north.

“They’re well established and will be in New Mexico for the foreseeable future,” said Carol Sutherland, an entomologist with New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service.

Other counties where the Africanized honey bees have been found are Catron, DoZa Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Otero and Sierra. NMSU scientists have evaluated bees from several other counties, including a hybrid colony that was confirmed in eastern Bernalillo County several years ago.

“Africanized and regular honey bees are so similar in appearance that lab testing is necessary for exact identification,” Sutherland said. “In most cases, the bees are sampled after a pest control operator eliminates a problem swarm for testing.”

New Mexico’s first swarm of Africanized bees was found in the rangeland of Hidalgo County in 1993. The latest colony was found in Roosevelt County in late May in the wall of a house in the Causey-Lingo area.

In addition to New Mexico, Africanized honey bees have been found in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Utah. They were confirmed in Oklahoma in 2004, and in Arkansas this year. The latest occurrence came in Tampa, Fla., where officials believe they arrived on a commercial ship.

Domestic bees, bred for gentleness and honey production, have lived among people for thousands of years, Sutherland said. On the other hand, Africanized bees are totally wild and aren’t the least bit comfortable around people or animals.

Highly protective of their hives, Africanized bees are more likely to sense a threat at greater distances, become agitated quicker and sting in greater numbers. Safety around bees depends on knowing what to do long before an encounter occurs.

“Avoid areas where bees are foraging and avoid disturbing them, if possible,” Sutherland said. “Learn to look and listen for bee activity wherever you happen to be. And if you find yourself in a situation where bees are numerous, noisy or acting strangely, escape to safety as quickly as you can. Run and don’t stop until you reach safety, such as a building with doors and windows that close.”

The so-called killer bees are the result of honey bees brought from Africa to Brazil in the 1950s in hopes of breeding a bee better adapted to the South American tropical climate. These honey bees were shipped to Brazil in the mid-1950s where they escaped and became established in the wild.

They then spread south and north until they officially reached southern Texas in 1990. Today, more than 60 percent of Texas counties have Africanized bee populations.

While a sting from an Africanized bee is no more toxic than that of a European honey bee, Africanized bees are more aggressive. Africanized bees will usually attack with less provocation, and the angry bees will pursue people or attackers for longer distances.

Lucille Kincaid, 74, of Carlsbad, died of cardiac arrest in the summer of 2000 after she was stung multiple times by Africanized bees in her backyard. A number of others have been hospitalized after receiving numerous stings.

There have been 11 deaths associated with the Africanized bees in Texas in the 15 years since they were found, and hundreds more people have been stung. Nearly 100 animals have been killed.

Still, the bee’s killer reputation is somewhat overstated. “Africanized bees don’t roam in big swarms searching out victims,” Sutherland said.

If a swarm or colony is discovered, have it removed by a professional exterminator or pest control operator, she said. Beekeepers may not be interested in collecting bees when Africanized honey bees are known to occur in the area.

“Don’t wait for a determination of whether or not your bees are Africanized,” Sutherland said. “After Africanized honey bees are confirmed, further identifications can be just of academic interest.”

How much farther Africanized honey bees may spread is still unknown.

“Some expected these bees to be a major threat to agriculture and life in the Southwest,” Sutherland said. “Others expected an initial surge of activity and then the problem would somehow go away. The truth in New Mexico is somewhere in between.” (Las Cruces Sun-News , 9/5/05.)

BEES ATTACK CONSTRUCTION CREW

MANOR, TX ---- KXAN has crews on the scene of a serious bee attack north of Manor. Apparently, a bulldozer came in contact with a swarm of bees along FM 973.

Travis County says that nine people are being treated for bee stings. Their conditions have not been released.

They're trying to balance emergency medical crews with traffic control, so they can keep as many people as possible away from the area.

KXAN will bring you more on this story throughout the day. (KXAN-TV 36 News, Austin, 8/30/05.)

TEXOMA MAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER ATTACKED BY BEES

STONEWALL, OK ----- A Texoma man is still in the hospital after bees swarmed him on his own property outside of Stonewall.

There wasn’t any reason at all why the bees swarmed and stung an 84-year-old man and that’s what has authorities so worried.

Officials say the man was swarmed by hundreds of bees while fishing on Sunday.

The man claims he didn’t do anything to provoke the insects, but was stung over 100 times anyways.

The man found a neighbor to drive him to Valley View Hospital in Ada.

Officials believe the bees could be a type of African Bee migrating North from South America.

“I know the African Bee can be a potentially deadly bee, especially if people are allergic to them,” said Justin Priest, Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office. “I know there have been some fatalities linked to the African Bee.”

The Pontotoc County Sheriff’s office obtained two bees from the mans clothes.

They will be sent to the OSU Extension Service for observation and testing.

There is no word on the man’s condition or when he will be released.

(Jocelyn Lockwood, KTEN-TV 10 News, 8/29/05.)

SWARM OF BEES ATTACK THREE DOGS, KILLING ONE

SANTA ANA, CA ---- A swarm of bees attacked a group of three dogs in a neighborhood yard, killing a 13-year-old Labrador named Jessie.

The attack occurred Friday at the home of Bonnie Lantz, which sits on a hilltop, surrounded by citrus orchards and bougainvillea flowers.

The bees first attacked Lantz's 78-year-old mother-in-law, Beatrice Bravo. She ran into the home after being stung on the back of the head. Hundreds of bees then covered the three dogs.

Lantz's stepson Austin Jiminez, 19, donned a paintball mask and dishwashing gloves and ran into the backyard to get the dogs to a safe place.

Jessie, the Labrador, died in the attack, and the other two dogs, Mica and Moose, were treated at an animal hospital. (Montery Herald, 8/29/05.)

AFRICANIZED HONEYBEES IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA, AS WELL AS NORTHWEST

LAKE CHARLES, LA. — Africanized honeybees have been found in southwestern Louisiana, as well as in the northwestern part of the state, so the line of honeybee traps is being moved 40 miles east.

The latest swarm was found last week in the Lake Charles area, three miles south of Interstate 10 on Louisiana Highway 108, said state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom.

Odom said the state will begin certifying beekeepers in the area west of the trap line next spring when they are packaging their bees for sale.

"Again, our number one priority at this time is to notify the public and beekeepers in the area that Africanized bees have been confirmed. We're not trying to frighten anyone or cause panic, but people who spend time outside need to be aware," Odom said Friday.

Africanized honeybees are smaller, more aggressive bees than the European honeybees commonly raised for honey production. They have the same venom as other honeybees, but will sting in greater numbers. Seeking cover immediately helps to reduce the number of stings in a confrontation with Africanized bees.

Africanized bees are the result of an experiment to increase honey production in Brazil. A swarm of the small, aggressive bees escaped the lab in 1957 and headed north. When they mated with native strains, the offspring turned out to be as aggressive as the African parents.

Louisiana's first colony was trapped in July, near Rodessa in north Caddo Parish. It was the first case of Africanized bees moving into the state through natural range expansion.

LDAF keeps a line of traps running north and south through the state to detect the progression of the Africanized honeybees. The traps in northern Louisiana were moved about 40 to 50 miles east of the Louisiana-Texas border earlier this month after the Africanized bees were found near Shreveport. The traps are about two miles apart and contain a queen bee pheromone that attracts swarms of bees. (AP, 8/28/05.)

BEES SWARM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; 3 STUDENTS, 7 MAINTENANCE WORKERS STUNG

TUCSON, AZ ---- Tucson firefighters spray foam on a bee swarm at a Sunnyside Unified School District maintenance yard. Three children and seven adults were stung by the bees.

A Sunnyside Unified School District maintenance employee shows TFD Capt. Tom MCNamara another swarm of bees spotted after the first swarm was destroyed.
Three first-graders and seven maintenance workers were stung after hundreds of bees swarmed near a South side school.

Two girls and a boy at Los Ranchitos Elementary School, 2054 E. Ginter Road, were the first to be stung this morning at about 10:40 p.m.

All three were stung once each and have returned to classes. The attack occurred as they were heading back into the school after a physical education class, said Monique Soria, a Sunnyside Unified School District spokeswoman.

The maintenance workers were stung multiple times and one - a 41-year-old woman - was hospitalized for an allergic reaction, said Capt. Paul McDonough, a spokesman for the Tucson Fire Department.

The bee swarm originated from two hives: one located in a lot between the school and district offices where old desks, toilets and other discarded parts were stored and the other from the desert to the south of the lot, McDonough said.

Workers who were stung went to Los Ranchitos' nurse's office for treatment.

The school was immediately placed on lockdown and lunch was served to the students in their classrooms, Soria said.

"They did the exact best thing they could have done. They got all the children inside and went into lockdown," McDonough said. "This could have been a lot worse and a lot more people could have received stings."

If people encounter a swarm, they should get inside immediately, he said.

"The last thing you want to do is play dead, lay on the ground and cover up your face," McDonough said. "You don't want to stand in place and swat at the bees. You want to turn and run - get out of the environment ."

Tucson firefighters were dispatched to five reports of bee swarms last year, he said. So far this year, there have been three calls for bee swarms.

This does not include calls for allergic reactions due to bee stings, McDonough said.

Firefighters will be responding to more calls this time of year after the rains.

"We're going to see more and more of this, especially with the Africanized bee colonies that have a stronghold here now," McDonough said. "They are aggressive. If you accidentally get stung by one of those bees, the rest of them seem to hone in right on that sting and they come after you."

An exterminator is at Los Ranchitos waiting for the bees to calm down before killing them, Soria said. (Eric Sagara, Tucson Citizen, 8/25/05.)

ARE KILLER BEES COMING TO SOUTH GEORGIA?

Irwin County, GA -- It's no horror movie. Killer bees are coming. Africanized bees already made their way into Florida and they may not be too far from buzzing into Georgia.

To the average person, bees are just black and yellow flying annoyances. "These are italian, what we call European honey bees," says beekeeper Terry Hester. For beekeeper Terry Hester, european honey bees have been a living for about fifteen years. "Of course it all started when I was four-years-old and my great-grandfather keeping bees," says Hester.

It's a life-long passion that requires precaution with a little smoke to calm the bees and a special suit. "They allow the air to come in but keep the bees out," says Hester. Hester says no amount of smoke or kind of suit will keep a dangerous kind of bee from entering South Georgia. "Now if we get africanized bees, I don't know," says Hester.

Africanized bees, or what some call killer bees are already established in California, Texas and now in Florida. "Areas that have africanized bees, there's been human loss of life, 14 lives that I know of in the United States, multiple counts of livestock that's been lost," says Hester. There's also been hundreds of sting victims. Hester says if other area beekeepers aren't more careful about moving bees state to state to pollinate, the threat will be serious.

"The fear is that we have certain beekeepers in this area that are taking their european bees from the eastern sea board, parking them in California in the almond groves next to africanized colonies and then bringing them right back in our local neighborhoods," says Hester.

He also warns landowners to be careful of what kinds of bees pollinate their crops. "I think any landowner should make sure that whoever they're allowing to put bees on their property has not been sending their bees into other places and states where there are africanized colonies," says Hester. If the bees aren't blocked early, South Georgians will have to adjust to some new annoying residents.

"I think they're right on our doorsteps, if they're not here already," says Hester. But beekeepers like Terry Hester are trying to make sure they don't get a chance to move in.

The state Department of Agriculture will hold a meeting with several bee shippers later this month to talk about the potential threat of africanized bees here in South Georgia. (WALB-TV 10 News, 8/16/05.)

AFRICANIZED BEES' ARRIVAL IN LA NO WORRY TO BEEKEEPERS
Experts: Aggressive species 'long overdue' in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, LA ---- A recent announcement that Africanized honeybees have arrived in Louisiana didn't surprise many of the state's beekeepers.

"I've kind of expected them sooner than this," said Bobby Frierson, a beekeeper in Denham Springs.

He said beekeepers have watched over the years as the Africanized honeybees made their way north from South America into Texas.

Although there have been instances where Africanized honeybees -- sometimes referred to as killer bees -- have been intercepted around deep water ports, this is the first time the bees have entered the state through the expansion of their range, said Jimmy Dunkley, state apiarist with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

"It's long overdue," he said.

Alva Stuard, Capital Area Beekeepers Association president, said the statewide beekeeper association met recently and the general consensus is that the recent announcement shouldn't affect people in Louisiana too much.

Stuard said that unlike other bees, the Africanized honeybees tend to swarm often in an attempt to look for a new place to start a hive. That means these bees find themselves facing winter without a ready food supply, which slows their spread, he said.

It could be 10 or 12 years before these Africanized honeybees reach Baton Rouge -- if they get here at all, he said.

Dunkley said bee traps were set up in the 1990s around Louisiana's deep water ports to determine if ships carried these Africanized bees into the state. More traps were put up over the years along the Louisiana/Texas border all the way to Arkansas. There are now traps about every two miles along that border.

"That gives us a pretty good coverage," Dunkley said.

The traps were installed to help notify the public, which might come into contact with the bees, and to alert the beekeeper industry to take precautions against having the Africanized bees invade their European bee colonies. Most beekeepers raise European bees.

Although the Africanized bees are about the same size and have the same venom as the European bees, what makes them potentially dangerous is their aggressiveness, Dunkley said. (Amy Wold, The Advocate, 8/15/05.)

While it might take European bees eight seconds to react to a perceived threat to the hive, Africanized bees will respond in as little as half a second, Dunkley said.

The Africanized bees also respond in greater numbers and are more persistent in following people even as they try to escape the area. Where a person might get four or five stings from European bees, Africanized bees would respond with 40 or 50 stings within the same time frame.

Dunkley said the best advice is to leave bees alone, but if they do get agitated, the best course is to get as far away as possible. If you try to stand and fight them off, he said, Africanized bees can deliver enough toxins to seriously injure or even kill a person.

The public's front line of defense against colonization by Africanized bees are the 406 registered beekeepers in the state, Dunkley said.

If the Africanized bees come into an area that has few native or European bees, they can easily establish hives. With well-maintained European hives, however, the Africanized bees are given competition for habitat and food, making it tougher for them to establish large colonies, he said.

Frierson said the threat of the Africanized bees won't affect how he manages his hives because he replaces the hive's queen every year, anyway. That "requeening" of a hive helps ensure that Africanized bees aren't infiltrating the hives through breeding.

Frierson explained that beekeepers already manage their hives to get rid of invasive parasites like mites and now they'll watch for the Africanized bees, too.

"It's just one more thing to add to the list," Frierson said. (Amy Wold, The Avocate, 8/15/05.)

HANDYMAN RESCUES WOMAN STUNG 400 TIMES
She is recovering from the attack, launched from the wall of a shed near UA.

TUCSON, AZ --- An 83-year-old woman is making a remarkable recovery after she was swarmed by bees and stung 400 times outside her University of Arizona-area home, a clinical nursing supervisor said.

And a handyman who helped her is credited with possibly saving her life, Fire Department Capt. Paul McDonough said.

The woman, whose name was not available, was outside her home on East University Boulevard, when she was attacked about 9:45 a.m. yesterday by bees coming from the wall of a nearby storage building, McDonough said.

"Hundreds and hundreds of bees swarmed her, more than a couple hundred," McDonough said.

He said the handyman, also unidentified, sprayed her and the bees with a garden hose until he, too, was attacked, McDonough said.

He said the man, while running from the bees, immediately called 911, allowing medics and firefighters to quickly get to the woman and spray the bees with firefighting foam, killing them. The man was not hurt, McDonough said.

McDonough said firefighters found the woman lying face down and unconscious in the street.

She regained consciousness at University Medical Center but could not initially remember her name or what happened, McDonough said.

At UMC, clinical supervisor Kim Hilty said the woman was out of intensive care and in fair condition last night.

"She was stung 400 times," Hilty said, adding, "Everyone was surprised how well she's doing." (David Teibel, Tucson Citizen, 8/13/05.)

FOUKE BATTLES AFRICANIZED BEES

FOUKE, AR ---- Mayor Cecil Smith said Thursday steps are being taken to remove Africanized bees from local hives.

"The Fouke City Volunteer Fire Department and Miller County Department of Emergency Management are in a joint effort, training in the removal of African 'Killer' bees. They have successfully removed one hive in the Fouke area," Smith read from a prepared statement during a city council meeting.

Miller County Department of Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Derrell Reynolds, who helps train the officials, spoke with the Gazette prior to the city hall meeting.

"I wish [people] wouldn't call them killer bees. There have only been 14 people killed in 15 years," he said. "They are not like European bees where two or three will attack you if you get close to their home. Africanized bees gang up on you. There may be thousands coming after you," Reynolds said.

He said a hive generally houses 60,000 to 70,000 bees. Reynolds said there are approximately 14 hives in Miller County, with only six classified as "full-blown" Africanized.

Fouke City Responder Misti Johnson trained with Reynolds earlier on Thursday. She said she learned to "tape off" her clothing to prevent any exposure to the elements because bees tend to travel up instead of down when attacking.

"They are dangerous and they will swarm. If you walk into them, keep your mouth shut because they like your breath," she said.

She also said Reynolds taught officials Africanized honeybees can travel 12 miles an hour and can pursue targets for a half mile.

"Don't underestimate them," she warned.

Smith repeatedly stressed the importance of calling the Miller County Sheriff's Office rather than trying to contend with a potential Africanized bee hive without training.

"You don't need to raise a honeycomb because you saw a hive of bees. Call the sheriff's office instead," Smith said. (By Jake Beckwith, Texarkana Gazette, 8/12/05.)

WORSE THAN A CRASH

HEMPSTEAD, TX --- During his legendary career, A.J. Foyt faced nearly everything a person could face on a racetrack and never blinked. Last weekend at one of his ranches near Hempstead, Foyt met his match.

A swarm of 60,000 bees attacked Foyt, who was clearing some brush with a bulldozer when he disturbed a beehive and was attacked and stung more than 200 times in the neck and head area.

"I've been hurt pretty bad in a race car, but this was one of the worst things I ever went through," said Foyt, 70.

Foyt jumped off the bulldozer and scrambled to a creek about 150 feet away. Twice, he stumbled to the ground but he kept moving away from the bees.

A ranch hand working in another field rushed to Foyt's aid and called 9-1-1. Paramedics treated Foyt at the site, but he refused to go to the hospital.

Foyt returned to the field two days later with member of the Texas A&M Agriculture Department, and Foyt said the team collected more than 60,000 bees.

"When I fell the second time, I was ready to give up right then," Foyt said. "It's a good thing I didn't because the Ag guys who came out told me that bees will keep stinging you until they kill you."

Foyt said he tried to watch the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on TV the day after the attack but his eyes were swollen and he couldn't see well. He was pleased when old friend Tony Stewart won the race. Stewart lists Foyt as his favorite driver in the NASCAR media guide.

"I'm really happy for him because I understand how much winning at Indy means to him," Foyt said. "He left a message on my cell phone about him winning a race that I didn't.

"When I see him, I'll have to remind him that I had won Indy (Indianapolis 500) three times by the time I was his age (34)." (AP, 8/10/05.)

INDIANAPOLIS 500 LEGEND A.J. FOYT SWARMED BY BEES

HEMPHILL, TX ---- A.J. Foyt has been known to stir up a hornets' nest in his career but it was bees that brought him to his knees this past weekend. Clearing brush with a bulldozer at one of his ranches Saturday afternoon, Foyt disturbed a beehive and he was immediately swarmed. He hopped off the 'dozer and made his way to a creek about 150 feet away but stumbled to the ground twice over the rough terrain. A ranch hand working in another field rushed to his aid and called 9-1-1.

Indy's first four-time 500 winner was treated by paramedics but he refused to go to the hospital. He was stung over 200 times mostly in the head and neck area.

Returning to the scene on Monday with members of the Texas A&M Agricultural Department, Foyt said they collected over 60,000 bees.

"I've hired someone to clear out the rest of that stuff," said Foyt. "I've been hurt pretty bad in a race car but this was one of the worst things I ever went through. When I fell the second time, I was ready to give up right then. It's a good thing I didn't because the Ag guys who came out Monday told me that bees will keep stinging you until they kill you."

Last September Foyt slipped when stepping off a large backhoe and tore his rotator cuff in his right arm severely enough to require surgery and a three-month re-hab program. Foyt, 70, last competed in a race in 1996 (NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) but it appears lately that working on his ranches is proving to be a challenge to his staying healthy. (AP, 8/10/05.)

RACING LEGEND FOYT ATTACKED BY BEES

4-time Indy 500 winner stung Saturday but back at work Monday

HOUSTON, TX ---- A.J. Foyt was able to go to his office Monday, just two days after being stung by nearly 200 bees at his ranch in Hempstead, Texas.

Foyt spokeswoman Anne Fornoro told The Associated Press that the 70-year-old, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner was driving a bulldozer Saturday, clearing brush, when he apparently stirred up a nest of bees. She said Foyt jumped off the bulldozer and started to run for a nearby stream, but he tripped and the bees swarmed onto him.

He was stung dozens of times on the face and upper body before finally scrambling into the water.

Fornoro said a man working nearby called 911. Foyt was treated at the scene, but refused a trip to the hospital.

“He says he was stung in the mouth, the ears, the throat, all over his face and that his eyes are really swollen, but he’s doing OK,” Fornoro said.

Foyt is owner of an Indy Racing League team with his grandson, A.J. Foyt IV, as the driver. (AP. 8/9/05.)

AG OFFICIALS BEGIN RELOCATING TRAPS TO TRACK AFRICANIZED BEES

CADDO PARISH, LA ---- Africanized bees may have made their way into Caddo Parish, but chances are, they won't make another move without someone knowing about it.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry announced last week that a bee taken from a trap near the town of Rodessa in June tested positive for the so-called "killer bee" variety.

Thursday, Ag workers began relocating that trap and dozens of others that it has distributed throughout Caddo Parish. According to Environmental Specialist Mark Elliott, the traps will be moved 40 miles east of their old locations, and also further to the south. He said that way, he and other Ag agents will be able to tell whether the bees are migrating.

"I've trapped a few hundred swarms in these traps and up until this time, there's been one Africanized bee trapped," Elliott said.

The Africanized, or killer bees, are more aggressive than the European variety, and tend to attack in larger numbers.

Elliott said Ag officials want to keep tabs on the pests and know where they are headed. He said once the traps are in their new locations, he and other agents will check them once a month to see what has taken up residence inside. A sample of any bees caught in the traps will be sent to a lab for testing to confirm whether they are of the Africanized type.

Elliott warned anyone who may be curious about the bee traps to forget about disturbing them. He said the traps could be full of bees, possibly the Africanized type. (KSLA-TV 12 News, 8/5/05.)

AGGRESSIVE AFRICAN BEES HERE TO STAY, KEEPERS FEAR

After monitoring bee hives for a decade, Florida agriculture officials concluded Africanized honey bees are already here and there's no way to effectively prevent them from spreading.

TAMPA, FL ---- Some time in the past three weeks, a cantaloupe-size mass of roughly 10,000 bees swarmed from a ship at the Port of Tampa, taking up residence in a cardboard container wired to a nearby fence.

The bees began gathering pollen and nectar, building wax honeycombs and making honey.

Last week, a state inspector, as scores of bees hovered inches from his back, gingerly removed the hive, placed it in a heavy plastic bag and doused the colony with insecticide.

The bees had made their new home in one of 21 traps at the port that monitor African colonies arriving aboard ships.

``I used to hate killing them. But they're suspected Africanized bees,'' said Randal Dean, one of 13 apiary inspectors for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Next month, DNA tests will confirm whether the colony was an Africanized honeybee hive, or a wild swarm of docile European honeybees.

A positive test for African honeybee DNA won't be surprising. One more batch of African bees will have hitched a ride into the state, part of an invasion Florida has been unable to repel.

The so-called ``killer bees'' are in Florida, and there's no way to eliminate them or prevent more from entering the state. Farmers, beekeepers and everyone else should beware.

``Every one we've found, we've eradicated. But we're certainly not getting them all. We'll have to deal with them in years to come,'' said Jerry Hayes, chief of apiary inspections for the agriculture department.

Although state officials cringe at the term killer bees, the African bees are highly aggressive and quickly swarm from hives by the thousands if they feel threatened.

African bees have killed people in California, and swarming bees in Texas have caused several fatal heart attacks.

In Florida, no attacks on humans have been confirmed. African bees killed a horse in April near Lake Okeechobee.

The bees attack mercilessly and will chase a person as far as a quarter-mile. They are easily disturbed by vibrations from machinery, loud noises and animals getting too close to the hive.

As the number of African bees increases, homeowners may find a wild colony in the yard, nesting in places such as mailboxes or under culverts.

``I worry about people in parks,'' Hayes said.

Bee Hotbed

About 100 of the roughly 150 African bee colonies in Florida have been found in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco or Manatee counties. Inspectors found the first African bees at Tampa's port in 2002.

``It's a hotbed,'' Hayes said.

Most of the African bee colonies probably flew off freighters from Central America.

Dean has found swarms in nearly all the traps at the Tampa port he checks every three weeks. The inspections usually turn up at least one colony.

Agriculture officials don't know how prevalent the African bees are in Florida. Colonies have been found in at least six other counties, including Hardee and Highlands.

``My personal fear is they may have set up housekeeping in the Everglades years ago and are moving north,'' Hayes said.

Agriculture officials know the African bees will spread.

African bees produce new colonies much faster than the European honeybee.

At least once a month, a queen from an African bee colony will leave the hive with about half the workers to establish a new colony.

African bees attack hives of European bees, kill the queen and take over the colony.

Male African bees work harder at mating than the European drones and are more successful. If one mates with a European queen, the colony will become Africanized.

``They dominate the landscape,'' Hayes said.

Agriculture officials say colonies will continue hitching rides on freighters docking at every port in Florida.

African bees also are brought into the state by beekeepers who take hives to California or Texas to pollinate crops.

Bleak Future

On a brutally hot afternoon, beekeeper Gary Ranker carefully lifted a wooden frame from a hive near Palmetto. Thick with honey, wax and eggs, the frame teemed with European honeybees.

``It's all negative,'' he said of African bees.

He shook the hive's frame, spilling a half dozen bees in his bare palm. They milled around, not stinging.

``If you tried to do that with Africanized bees, they'd clobber you,'' he said.

Ranker has never encountered ornery African bees in 30 years of beekeeping. He doesn't want to.