As Africanized bees spread across North America, more and more people are  having to adjust to living alongside these bees. Thankfully the incidences of serious attacks are not as frequent as the media would have us believe. However there is no doubt that Africanized bees do prove a serious risk in some circumstances especially to the elderly, the very young and those with a serious life threatening reaction to bee stings.

It is wise therefore to be aware of the best course of action to take if you are attacked by Africanized bees. Here are some things that you can do to reduce the seriousness of the attack.

1. If bees start bumping into you or flying around you or you see that you have disturbed a nest then Run away quickly. Encourage others to drop everything and do the same.

2. The bees will target your face, eyes and neck, so as you run try to pull your shirt or similar garment up over your head to protect yourself, obviously ensuring that you can still see where you are going.

3. Do not flail your arms about or try to the kill bees as crushed bees only emit more alarm pheromones and encourage more bees to join the attack.

4. Continue running until you find shelter in a building or secure vehicle. Africanized bees will chase something they suspect of trying to attack their nests for over a 100 yards. Do not jump into water as the bees will still be there when you come up for air.

5. Once you have reached shelter or have outrun the bees, remove all stingers. When a honey bees stings, it leaves its stinger in the skin, this kills the honey bee so it can only sting you once, but it also means that venom continues to enter into the wound for a short time after. Never pull out the sting with your fingers or with tweezers as this will leave part of the sting in, instead scrape it off with a credit card or your nail.

6. If you see someone being attacked by bees you should call the Emergency Services.

The venom in an Africanized bee sting is no more toxic than a European bee sting, in fact it is slightly less venomous. The problem arises from the sheer number of stings as many more Africanized bees will attack you if they feel threatened than would European honey bees. Most people can tolerate 15-25 stings without requiring special medical treatment, but any more and even those with no allergy to bee stings will start to experience problems.

People with a history of systemic allergic reactions (fainting and breathing problems), however, should always carry with them an emergency kit of injectable epinephrine, use it if they are stung and then immediately seek medical help. Anyone who receives more than 15-25 stings or feels in any way unwell after an attack should also seek medical supervision for possible delayed systemic complications. Severe complications can occur at any stage of your life even if you have never had a previous reaction to stings before, so do not take any risks.

More Killer Bee Information

As Africanized bees spread across North America more and more people are having to learn to live with these bees and adapt their behaviour, just as they have had to do when living near poisonous snakes or large bears. The first thing to remember is that Africanized bee attacks while being very alarming when they do occur and in some instances fatal, are in fact relatively rare. The movie depiction of angry swarms of  ‘killer bees’ lurking in bushes and trees and then chasing and covering an unsuspecting passer-by in seconds is thankfully far-fetched.

However attacks do occur and even if you are not chased by hundreds of bees, the over defensive behaviour of these insects does mean that if you disturb an Africanized bee’s nest you can be chased and stung by many more bees than if you disturbed most other type of bee. Multiple stings especially in those who are allergic or the elderly or very young can be very serious. Therefore it is worth taking some precautions to reduce the likelihood of an attack by Africanized Bees and here are some suggestions.

• Check your house and yard at least once a month to see if there are any signs of bees taking up residence. If you do find a swarm or colony, do not touch it. Keep your family and animals away from the bees until you have had it removed or inspected by a pest control company or an experienced beekeeper.
• It is impossible to prevent Africanized bees from building nests as they will use almost anything for this purpose. But try wherever possible to fill any cracks or gaps in house walls or holes in the ground near to your living area. A tidy yard will also reduce the likelihood of bees building nests, as Africanized bees often nest in piles of refuse or unused materials and are even known to build nests in discarded soda cans.
• When gardening or clearing, cutting bushes or trees check first for signs of bees coming and going. If in any doubt wear head protection. The same applies if you are using mechanical equipment as bees become very agitated by such noise.
• If you go hiking try to stay on defined trails, carry bug spray and always carry your cell phone with you in case you have to call for help. You should also consider wearing light coloured clothing as bees are more prone to attack dark things.
• Avoid wearing strong perfumes as bees are sensitive to odours and these will attract their attention.
• If bees start to bump into you, behave strangely or follow you, vacate the area quickly, as this is often the first sign that a colony is on the alert and may be about to attack.

These Africanized bees can be alarming and unpredictable but by using common sense and taking sensible precautions you should be able to avoid any serious problems.

More Killer Bee Information

There is very little physical difference between a Killer or Africanised Honey Bee and a European Honey Bee. The Africanised Bee is actually very slightly smaller but this difference  is not immediately obvious and often  microscopic analysis is the only way to tell them apart.

The main differences between the two types of bees is to be found in their behaviour and specifically the following:

Swarming

On average a European honey bee colony will swarm once a year, whereas the Africanised bee will often swarm as often as every six weeks. In addition unlike the European bee when Africanised bees swarm they will often produce two swarms at a time. Swarming is the natural means by which bees replicate and spread. As the numbers in a hive expand a new queen (or queens in the case of  the Africanised ones ) will be produced and once mated these will leave the colony with a large number of the worker bees and honey stores to set up a new colony. By swarming so often Africanised bees are able to spread and populate a wider area considerably quicker than their less ambitious cousins.

Nests

As the Africanised bee swarms so frequently their numbers do not usually get as high as European bees so they are happy to occupy much smaller spaces than the Europeans. They will often occupy holes in the ground or trees and even meter boxes, mail boxes, flower pots or soda cans, will be considered. They also do not tend to occupy nests for long whereas European bees will colonise a site for years or as long as it remains weather and predator proof. Africanised bees also do not seem to mind if their nest is unconcealed and open whereas Europeans tend to look for protected sites, sealing up all but one small entrance.

Defensiveness

Africanised bees are far more defensive of their brood (young) and their honey stores and it is this behaviour trait that gives them their bad reputations. Unlike European bees, which will normally guard an area of a  few feet around their hive and rarely chase a potential predator for any distance or send out more than a couple of bees to investigate; Africanised bees  will guard up to 100 yards and will come out of their nests in large numbers to defend that area.

Stings

The Sting from an Africanised bee is no worse than a European bee and like them they can only sting once. The problem for anyone encountering these bees comes from their tendency to attack in greater numbers thereby inflicting multiple stings, which tend to be focused on the head and neck areas.

More Killer Bee Information

The Africanised honey bee or ‘Killer bee’ is widely feared by the public, a reaction that has been encouraged by sensationalist movies and exaggerated media reports. Although this bee is much more aggressive than a European honey bee, stings from Africanised bees kill only 1-2 people per year in the United States which is a similar figure to that of wasps and European honey bees.

Killer bees are a hybrid of African and European honey bee species and were accidentally introduced into the ecosystem from a laboratory in Brazil in 1956, where scientists were attempting to create a strain of bee with improved honey production.

The Africanised queens and consequently the colonies escaped, swarmed and began to quickly establish themselves throughout South and Central America. The first sign of Africanised bees in the United States was in October 1990, in Southern Texas. The bee then spread steadily across the southern part of the United States where the winters are mild and the summers are very warm. However scientists and entomologists believe that the Africanised bees are now adapting to colder climates and roaming further north at an average rate of 2 miles per day. If this projection is true, it could become a major problem to the European honey bee within the United States and possibly eventually even Europe.

How to Identify a Killer Bee .

People are often surprised to learn that killer bees are in fact slightly smaller in size than European bees. They are however virtually indistinguishable from each other when viewed with the naked eye and precise identification can only be done microscopically.

The Africanised bee will become agitated as a result of a perceived threat ten times quicker than a European bee. The latter will stay closer to their hive to defend it if they feel threatened and most of the colony will stay inside and start working to remove their honey stores, leaving just a few guard bees to see off the threat. However Africanised bees will leave their hive en masse’ to defend it, surrounding the perpetrator and inflicting as many stings as possible and are also likely to give chase for up to a quarter of a mile. It is this behaviour pattern that has led to them being called ‘Killer bees’. One of the main reasons why they behave in such an aggressive collective manner is that unlike the European honey bee their main focus is not on their honey stores, but on multiplying their numbers. This is because they are originally adapted to live in warm climates where winter hibernation is not necessary and therefore the need for large honey stores does not arise. For this reason they collect much more pollen (necessary for growth in young) and as a result are in fact better pollinators.

Nesting

European honey bees rarely build nests on the ground or in exposed locations, whereas Africanised bees will build a nest anywhere they can find a hole large enough to fit through and their nests are much smaller. If they cannot find a suitable concealed location they will nest in the ground or in tree branches. The Africanised bees will often invade a European bee colony replacing its queen with one of their own.

Swarming

European honey bees swarm once or twice a year, whereas the Africanised honey bees swarms ten times or more a year allowing them to colonize much larger areas. Furthermore, the Africanised bees will completely abandon or ‘abscond!’ from their nests whenever environmental factors become unfavourable, whereas European honey bees rarely ever abandon a nest completely.

The Future

Africanised bees are effectively a work in progress as they continue to breed with European bees. Scientists and beekeepers however are now using selective breeding programmes to try to control and manage the problem. In particular it is recognised that the African bee has a lot of positive traits, for example it is more disease and pest resistant than the European bee and is a more active forager. Therefore by selecting these traits in addition to trying to breed out its aggressive ones, the end result may be more favourable than was once feared.

By Maggie Roberts

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