Africanized Honeybees in the Florida Everglades

By Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program February 2, 2009

A Bee Alert about Africanized honeybees (a.k.a. "killer bees") was published in November 2008.

Sound Waves Newsletter - January-February 2009

by Tom Smith

Two photos show killer bees and two other photos show employees working in the field. — Top left: Aggressive bees nesting on underside of plank in a sawgrass marsh near the Harney River in Everglades National Park, Florida. Top right: The hive underneath the plank. Bottom left: Hydrologic technician Gordon Anderson, a member of Tom Smith's team, repairs a rain gage at the USGS hydrologic-sampling station (a.k.a. "hydro platform") near the Harney River. Note planks laid over sawgrass marsh to facilitate access to platform. Bottom right: Ginger Tiling (left) and Karen Balentine, members of Smith's team, conduct routine maintenance on platform instruments.

A Bee Alert about Africanized honeybees (a.k.a. "killer bees") has been published by the Animal Control Division of the Public Works Administration of Pompano Beach, Florida. The 4-page article is by Animal Control Officer David Aycock.

In November 2008, while conducting fieldwork in a sawgrass marsh near the Harney River in Everglades National Park, my team got attacked by a swarm of bees that had several characteristics suggesting that they are Africanized. The bees were highly aggressive and followed us for some 80 meters or so away from the initial point of contact. We subsequently discovered that the hive was very exposed, also characteristic of these bees. The hive was attached to the underside of a plankway—just like the plankways many of us use to access our study sites and hydro platforms (stations that house hydrologic-sampling equipment).

The attack resulted in a visit to the emergency room, where the team member who had been stung the most got treatment. So bee careful out there!

A final note: On December 5, Everglades National Park ranger and amateur beekeeper Dave Fowler successfully removed the hive. Samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, for DNA testing, which will determine the degree of Africanization in the bees. Thank you, Dave!

For more information, visit the Africanized Honeybee page on the Department of Agriculture's web site.