|
|
Questions on Honey bees and
Useful Links
|
||||||||||||||||
|
what are "Africanized Honey Bees", why are they called "hybrids" and "killer
bees"? Africanized honey bees (AHB) are the same species as regular honey bees (their scientific name is Apis mellifera L.) and calling them a "hybrid" is not very accurate. In fact, they are so much the same species, that it takes a laboratory DNA test to discern them. Their appearance is quite the same, but their behavior, a result of evolution in harsh environments and the continuous destruction of their nests by humans in search of honey and uninterested in beekeeping, is what really gives them away. Instead of "gentle" and "calm" like their European counterparts, these honey bees tend to react very swiftly to any disturbance near their nest, perceive it as a threat, and start to sting right away. The name "Killer Bee" is a selling name for newspaper articles and responds to the fact that AHB are extremely DEFENSIVE.
Where do they come from?
These 26 swarms produced queens that mated with the local, albeit also imported, European honey bee (EHB) drones (the males). This process of "Africanization" has been taking place all over the continent since 1957, with the colonization of all Brazil's honey bees, and then the rest of South America's down to northern Argentina at calculated speeds of 300-400 km/year. AHB kept on going through Central America, and arrived into the United States in 1990, entering through Texas. They are not expected to colonize the 50 states: researchers have surmised that they will only settle south of 30 degrees North, on a hypothetical arching line going from Santa Cruz, CA, to Fayetteville, NC. The first reaction in many South American countries was to drop beekeeping completely in response to a complicated honey bee and the growing number of accidents that the press was keen to sensationalize. "Killer bees" became a selling title, and very soon the general public was all against, and terrified, of honey bees and beekeeping altogether. It took a younger generation to take up research and work with honey bees again, with the result that nowadays extensive knowledge has been acquired on Africanized honey bee biology and beekeeping.
Brazil, for example, has not only gained a respectable 5th position in world honey production, but is a leader in AHB research.
Why won't these honey bees move into Northern states? AHB come from very warm geographical zones, and do not show behaviors that enable them to survive hard winters, like EHB. They do not form clusters around the queen to keep her warm, they do not store amounts of honey sufficient to hold the bees through long winters, and do not slow down for the winter months but insist on foraging well into unfavorable weather conditions. This takes a toll on the colony and it dies in the winter. HOW CAN I TELL THESE ARE POTENTIAL AHB?
If the bees you are facing are more like the ones described in red, they may be AHB: RUN!
NESTS AND SWARMS: A DIFFERENCE WORTH KNOWING Honey bees are social insects that live in colonies (a family) of one queen, thousands of workers (her daughters) and a few drones (her sons) in a NEST made of vertical wax combs built by workers from wax glands in the underside of their abdomen. Inside the combs are the eggs and larvae they care for and that will be the future of the colony. On the upper part of the brood combs are stores of honey and pollen collected by the bees and used to raise the brood. Under these circumstances, the nest is precious to them and well worth the effort to defend or die for. A SWARM, on the other hand, is only the group of bees (queen, workers and drones) on-the-go , without the combs, the brood or the resources. A swarm has nothing to defend and is therefore not dangerous or threatening. Furthermore, since on their departure each worker took some honey into their crops to carry to the new nest, they have a difficult time bending their abdomens to sting. Swarming (formation of swarms) occurs mainly from March-May in Northern California, and has nothing to do with a mode of attack but rather with reproduction in honey bees (how much did you really know about the birds and the bees?) If you stumble upon something that looks like a beard made of bees, hanging from a branch, a bush, monkey bars, a fence or other surfaces, it's a swarm that is passing by and chose to rest for a while (hours to a couple days) in order to give the "scout" bees time to search for a suitable cavity to make a new nest. Swarms will leave on their own and usually cause no trouble, but a beekeeper can be called since most will try to come and get them. As with any animal, a swarm should not be provoked or annoyed. Place warning signs (red tape) of the swarm's presence if you can. WHAT CAN I DO IN CASE I NOTICE BEES FLYING IN AND OUT OF SOME POSSIBLE NEST? Once you've noticed bees flying continuously in and out of a location (hole in the wall, tree trunk), you probably have located a nest. The first advice is LEAVE IT ALONE. Warn people of its presence and do not allow children or animals nearby. If you have attached or pent up animals, move them away from the area. Then, call a beekeeper or an exterminator. Don't try to kill the nest, you won't succeed unless you have special training, and you'll endanger your life and others' as well. Where can I read more about these honey bees? There are many web pages containing copious information on AHB and how to be prepared in case of accidents. I recommend some in California, Arizona and Texas, and have put links here, but encourage you to do your own search if you have a particular interest in any aspect of honey bees.
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pe/InteriorExclusion/bees.html The following links take you to resources on honey bees and beekeeping, interesting blogs and amusing bee-related pages (the opinions in them are only that, opinions):
http://www.derbyshire-bka.org.uk
|
AHB come as the unexpected result of a honey bee
breeding program started in Brazil in 1956, and gone terribly awry a year later
due to interference by a well-meaning beekeeper. At the time, Brazil had fallen
to 27th in world honey production,
perhaps because available honey bees, introduced by European settlers since the
conquest, were not well adapted to the tropical and humid conditions of the country. A
renowned geneticist, Warwick E. Kerr was commissioned to
breed honey bees both highly productive and suited to the tropics. Kerr
imported 51 honey bee queens from Africa, that were very productive and gentle. By the next year, he had decreased the gene pool to 26 queens with the
best of these qualities; however, an unwitting beekeeper thought it a good
idea to remove the mesh that ensured these queens could not come out of the hives, and the
colonies swarmed before Kerr and his team learned of it. 