PDA

View Full Version : Killer Bees



trailangelmary
04-02-2006, 03:37
The Africanized variety was bred by a researcher in Brazil who mated European bees with bees from southern Africa to try to produce a hybrid more tolerant of the tropics. The resulting queens were more aggressive
[URL="http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=2006033121509990004&ncid=NWS00010000000001"]

I read this article through the AOL News page. I admit I am not usually one to pay much attention to the news nor was I good at History in school. However, as I quickly perused the article this quote above struck my attention. I may be taking it out of context but my first reaction is: Maybe it didn't work out so well because some researcher was trying to imitate God instead of letting God's wonders be!:confused:

Mr. Clean
04-02-2006, 06:10
When we meddle in Nature's affairs, usually things don't work out too well, but many times they do. We are eating some amazing foods because of crossbreeding and hybridization.
One unhappy story comes to mind about mongooses being sent to Hawaii to kill the rats which came off the ships and overpopulated the islands. The rats, however, climbed into the trees to escape the mongooses and the mongooses started eating ground-dwelling birds instead.

Cookerhiker
04-02-2006, 11:05
I recently returned from a trip to Saguaro National Park in Arizona working on a Sierra Club service project. The Parkrangers informed us that the Africanized bees are well established there. What I remember from the rangers' talk is that (a) they don't look much different from other bees or wasps (b) they're not that aggressive, unless (c) you make the mistake of killing one; the smell of a squashed bee attracts a swarm of them, and (d) one distinguishing feature is that they'll chase you for up to a quarter mile unlike American bees which give up after 100 yards. Single stings aren't necessarily more potent than American bees but a swarm inflicting multiple stings can be fatal.

So the moral for all of us was: if a bee buzzes around you, swat gently or move, but don't kill it.

mdionne
04-02-2006, 11:37
i've worked in areas where africanized bees make up 98% of the bee population for several years. it has been said that they cannot be identified by eye, although they are more aggressive than other bees. i have personally killed one that i thought was going to sting me, it kept trying to land on my head rather aggressively. i was never swarmed by the others that were in a bee hive ten feet away. i have had a swarm attacking my truck but it was only 10 or 20 of them and not the thousands it could have been as there was a hive next to the road. i have also had a large migrating swarm all around me as well. i ducked under bushes while thay all swarmed around me. i didn't move, i didn't get stung. i have also had to pull a boat into a hive of them as well. 5 times over the course of three months we would pull the boat in jump out and run and hope we never got stung. guess what...we never did!

i think there is a lot of unwarranted fear about africanized bees. if you're allergic to bee stings then you should be just as fearful of these guys as any bee you may encounter. my best advice if you should ever encounter a swarm...move slowly, keep alert, let them go about their business!

Lion King
04-02-2006, 12:43
[url="http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=2006033121509990004&ncid=NWS00010000000001"]

I read this article through the AOL News page. I admit I am not usually one to pay much attention to the news nor was I good at History in school. However, as I quickly perused the article this quote above struck my attention. I may be taking it out of context but my first reaction is: Maybe it didn't work out so well because some researcher was trying to imitate God instead of letting God's wonders be!:confused:

I read in the National Geographic that a scientist located some trace blood on a sharp rock right before Hogpen Gap from the knee of Baltimore Jack and was working on a cloning project...god help us all.
:D

rainmaker
04-03-2006, 22:38
The Africanized Hybrid Bee ( aka Killer Bee) did not develope hyper- defensive behavior as a result of the cross. The african bee, apis mellifera scutellata, already exhibits those traits.It is certainly more defensive than the bee most beekeepers use in the US, the Italian, apis mellifera ligustica.The advice of Cookerhiker and Mdionne is generally accurate. The AHB is the dominant bee now used in South America. Its positive traits outweigh its negatives. The AHB is a good producer and is highly resistant to Varroa mites. BTW , I am a beekeeper. I use Russian bees which are "hotter" than Italians but certainly more gentle than AHB. As a final note, It appears that AHB colonies have a hard time existing above the 34 parallel because of the cold. Of course, Global Climate change might change that.