by Tom Smith

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

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.