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Home > Animals & Nature > Articles > Do killer bees really exist

Do killer bees really exist

01:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001 | Animals & Nature

A. Yes - up to a point. The real name for the so-called killer bee is the Africanised bee. The folklore of the killer bee started with such films as The Swarm, where great clouds of angry bees attack cities and sting hundreds of people to death. This is not going to happen.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />


Q. So where has this legend started

A. Ancestors of the Africanised bee live throughout Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. African bees were accidentally introduced into the wild in South and North America in 1956. Brazilian scientists were attempting to create a new hybrid bee in the hopes of creating improved honey production. The Africanised bee (apis mellifera scutellata) escaped and began to dominate the honeybee, spreading through the country at 200 miles a year.


Q. It's a nasty piece of work

A. Yes. It's aggressive and easily agitated. The first Africanised bee was found in the United States in October, 1990, in southern Texas. At the moment, it can't survive cold winters, but entomologists believe it will be able to adapt to colder weather and spread further north. That could be a big problem.


Q. And has it killed

A. Yes. In May, 1991, Jesus Diaz became the first person to be attacked by the bee in America while mowing a lawn in Brownsville, Texas. He was stung 18 times and treated at hospital. On 15 July, 1993, 82-year-old Lino Lopez died after being stung more than 40 times while trying to remove a colony from a wall in an abandoned building on his ranch near Harlingen, Texas. A few months later and 88-year-old woman died in Arizona after disturbing a large colony in an abandoned building on her property.

Q.
What are its vital statistics

A. Apis mellifera scutellata has four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. It takes about 21 days for a regular worker to develop from an egg, 16 days for a queen, and 24 days for a drone. Drones usually live five to 10 weeks. Workers usually live 50 days. All the workers are females. Queens live up to three years and may lay 1,500 eggs a day.


Q. What are the differences from the friendly honeybee

A. European Honey Bees pollinate flowers and crops; swarm only when crowded and can be calmed by smoke. The Africanised lot are far more aggressive; they make less honey (about 20 per cent) and beeswax; swarm more frequently and hate high-pitched sounds. They also don't calm down quickly - and can stay irate for many days.


Q. So how do we prevent such attacks

A. An aggressive colony may attack any 'threat' within 100ft. Africanised bees go berserk over loud noises, strong smells,shiny jewellery and dark clothes, apparently. So, don't got near them - and dress accordingly.


Q. So if they attack, the best thing to do is hide underwater

A. No. They'll wait until you surface again. You might drown! These bees are slow in flight and you should be able to out run run them. Run in a straight line, protecting your face. If you are stung, get medical advice - there may be an allergic response.


Q. Was Brazil taken to court for allowing this monster to escape

A. No, but there was, ironically, a self-imposed punishment. The Africanised bee is a much less efficient honey-producer. Brazil dropped from fourth in world honey production to 27th by the early 1990s.

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By Steve Cunningham

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