Hunt Is On for Africanized Bees

By RON WORD - AP - June 99

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Defensive, mean and unpredictable, the killers entered through the Port of Jacksonville, hiding among the crates and containers arriving daily from other countries.  Tomas Mozer's job was to track them down and wipe them out.  His quarry: Killer bees.

Mozer found two swarms of the Africanized bees last month in bait hives at Blount Island in Jacksonville, marking the first time they had been captured in Florida. The bees have been found 18 times on ships in Florida since 1983, but never in hives on land.  Mozer's mission is to make sure the bees don't take up residence in Florida, potentially destroying the state's beekeeping industry and possibly fatally stinging residents, tourists and animals.  Since the bees entered the United States earlier this decade, there have been six deaths, three in Texas and three in Arizona, according to the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Ariz.  One of the hives Mozer found at Blount Island had about 10,000 bees. The other only had a few of the insects. The bees were destroyed by freezing.

DNA testing showed the bees were from the dangerous African strain that was imported into South America in an attempt to boost honey production.

``We don't think they are established,'' Mozer said.  The swarms were located in the section of the port where container ships arrive from Puerto Rico. State agriculture officials suspect that all of the 150,000 wild bee colonies in Puerto Rico are Africanized. In 1997, the bees attacked and killed a 2-year-old boy who was with his family as they picked avocados.  Mozer said he was amazed he wasn't stung when he captured the killer bees in Jacksonville. ``They could have gotten me if they had wanted to,'' he said.

The bees get their nickname from their aggressive behavior. The African honeybees attack in furious swarms with little provocation, pursue victims over much greater distances than the more common European bees and remain agitated for up to eight hours.  ``When you anger European bees, you get five or six after you.  With Africanized bees, you get several hundred after you,'' said Rodney Holloway, a bee expert with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University.

Mozer's find has addedand gardenias known to attract the bees.  The bearded Mozer, a self-taught commercial beekeeper for several years, eases up to the trap, carefully watching for bees buzzing in and out.

Opening the end of the trap, he quickly jumps back. Several field mice scurry away, but there are no bees. Mozer's caution comes from the reputation of the Africanized bees.  ``They are unpredictable. They are defensive,'' Mozer said.   ``People have lost their lives and livestock. They need to be respected. These guys will not go without a fight.''  The state has some 500 bait hives used to detect killer bees, primarily in port areas, along Interstate 10 and on the Florida-Alabama border.

Africanized bees trace their killer genes to Africa, where a swarm of a specific strain known for its aggressiveness was captured and brought to Brazil by a scientist in the 1950s for experiments to increase honey production. Once there, the African bees escaped and began moving north while mating with native strains of bees and retaining their aggressive behavior.  Texas has dealt with wild swarms of Africanized bees since 1990, but they have not spread eastward past Houston. They have also spread as far west as California.

``The concern about the Africanized bees has been more than the results from the Africanized bees,'' said Holloway. ``We really have not had much of a problem with the Africanized bees.''

A New Public Nuisance

The Africanized honey bee, popularly known as the "killer bee," is moving into South Texas and the southern United States. Scientists are not certain how far north the bee will spread, but they do know that it will cause problems wherever it resides in large numbers.

This insect, which has been migrating from South America since the 1950's, looks just like a domestic honey bee, but it is not nearly as good natured. In fact, it has a bit of a quick temper.

The domestic bee has lived in harmony with human beings for hundreds of years. It has been bred for gentleness and good honey production.

By contrast, the Africanized bee is a "wild" bee that is not comfortable being around people or animals. Any colony of bees will defend its hive, but Africanized bees do so with gusto. These bees are more likely to sense a threat at greater distances, become more upset with less reason, and sting in much greater numbers.

More People Will Get Stung

More people probably will be stung by bees wherever Africanized honey bees become established. Some individuals may get stung hundreds of times in only a few moments.

The Africanized bee's "killer" reputation is greatly exaggerated, but it does have some basis in fact. In isolated instances, people and animals have been stung to death. Most often, the person who died was not able to get away from the bees quickly. Animal losses have occurred for the same reasons. Pets and livestock were tied up or penned when they encountered the bees.

However, Africanized bees do not roam in giant swarms looking for victims to attack. Like most animals, these bees react defensively only when they feel threatened.

The Africanized bee is a new insect nuisance, but it will not change the way people live and work and play. People in parts of Central and South America have lived with this bee for several decades without great difficulty.

Beekeepers Are Threatened

Beyond public safety, the Africanized honey bee will have the greatest impact on beekeepers. Commercial beekeepers could go out of business if Africanized bees drive out or breed into their domestic colonies.

Because honey bees provide 80 percent of the pollination required by agricultural crops, a reduction in the number of beekeepers could lead to reduced yields in melons and other commodities as well as a decline in honey production.

Beekeepers are working closely with state and federal agencies to minimize the impacts of the Africanized bee.

Know the Bee's Behavior

Your best protection against the Africanized bee is to understand how it behaves and react accordingly.

Bees "swarm" to establish new hives in the spring and fall. Bees are most active then. You may find bees setting up housekeeping where you live literally overnight. Individual bees gathering pollen on flowers or masses of bees clinging together in swarms generally will not bother you. However, bees are more likely to be defensive after they have established a colony and started raising young.

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