In just a few years after Africanized honey bees were introduced to Brazil in 1956, the aggressive bees had dominated and ruined domestic hives throughout South and Central America. According to University of Florida research, however, the same story isn’t playing out in North America.
Aggressive African bees were accidentally released in Brazil in 1957. As “killer bees” spread northward, David Roubik, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, began a 17-year study that revealed that Africanized bees caused less damage to native bees than changes in the weather and may have increased the availability of their food plants.
Utah Department of Agriculture and Food officials have detected the presence of the Africanized honey bee in Cedar City.
A hive of Africanized honey bees has been discovered in Cedar City. The big news from that discovery is the hive removal and the way the bees survived the winter indoors, in the eaves of a house.
The Utah Department of Agriculture says the bees have been found in Washington and Kane counties.
Just seven years after they were first spotted in the Tampa area, African honeybees have become well-established throughout South Florida. Experts estimate that up to 80 percent of all wild bee colonies in the area are now hybridized with this aggressive, often-irritable strain.
Eleven African queen bees and swarms of half-African drones and workers escaped from a Sao Paulo laboratory in 1957, and Brazil has been pained about it ever since.
Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain, D.V.M. said the August 11 confirmation of Africanized honeybees in Winn Parish was not unexpected. “We had already moved our trap line twenty or so miles east of
Winn Parish after Africanized honeybees were found in LaSalle Parish
last June,” Strain said.
More than a year ago, Africanized honeybees, also known as killer bees, were expected to migrate from Florida to the Augusta area by this summer. However, the ill-tempered insects have been content to remain in the Sunshine State.
Africanized “killer” bees arrived locally several years ago. But for some reason, the critters with lightning tempers go into chill mode when they hit Manatee County.
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