Africanized Bee Attack

[Bob_Roller]

Local police officer stopped by today, used to be a neighbor across the street, and an oilhead rider, up until the DIVORCE.

Told me that there was a 'africanized/killer bee' attack about 4 blocks from my home, this morning, two people went to the hospital with hundreds of bee stings.

I've got hundreds, if not thousands of wildflowers in my front yard, all blooming, with untold numbers of bees flying around.

I've never really felt threatened by them, never been stung in the 13 years that I've had the wildflowers in the yard.

[Justin B.]

Them-thar Africanized bees don't seem to care much about getting along with folks like the regular honey bees.  I would give 'em a wide berth...

[mikeyd3]

there goes the neighborhood.

[Bob_Roller]

I was in the driveway today taking pictures of the R65 for a new insurance company (Hagerty), when I see a LARGE swarm of bees on the other side of the street.

I put the bike back into the garage closed the garage door, came back into the house and looked out the front window to watch this swarm of bees gather on a small branch of the tree in my front yard.

The swarm is about 12 inches (31cm) long, and about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter.

Looks like I'm not going out into the front yard anymore today !

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Ask to see their passport!  

[Bob_Roller]

I contacted a bee removal service that's located about a mile away, and I was told that if I feel adventurous, get out before sunrise tomorrow morning, put a large trash bag over the swarm, and use a ty-wrap to seal the bag, then cut the small branch.

Leave a message on their answering machine, and they will pick-up the bag in the morning.

I'll see how adventurous I feel at 5 am tomorrow morning !!

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I contacted a bee removal service that's located about a mile away, and I was told that if I feel adventurous, get out before sunrise tomorrow morning, put a large trash bag over the swarm, and use a ty-wrap to seal the bag, then cut the small branch.

Leave a message on their answering machine, and they will pick-up the bag in the morning.

I'll see how adventurous I feel at 5 am tomorrow morning !!

ATGATT  

[Bob_Roller]

I've got a couple of Tyvek coveralls from work, they look like the hazmat suits you see quite frequently on TV.

It's forecast to be in the low to mid 50's F. tomorrow morning, so the bees will be quite lethargic due to the temperature. [smiley=beehive.gif]

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

[size=18]Cool![/size]


 (pun intended!)

[Ed Miller]

I wish I had bee hives.  My apple trees rarely get pollinated.  

[Bob_Roller]

I was out at 5am, but the swarm had moved up the branch, and spread out to two other
branches.

I decided to not have a go at it today.

[Bob_Roller]

Got back from doing my errands for the week, and the swarm has moved on, about 20 leaves were matted together, and you could see the beginnings of the 6 sided wax cells between the leaves.

Glad to see they are gone, need to keep an eye out for any further swarms, and the hiding places they may have found !!

The local news media, has been reporting for the last 10 years or so, to treat all honey bees as if they are the 'africanized' variety, appearantly they have interbred with the native european bees, so we are pretty much stuck with dealing with these possibly vicious bees for a long time to come .

There have been reports in southern Arizona, that a disturbed hive will give chase for 1/4 mile, .4 km.

It would be a nasty surprise to disturb a hidden hive, and have no place to run to !

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I don't think [size=16]I[/size] could give chase for 1/4 mile!  That would kill me if the bee stings didn't! lol!


I have had one or two big old fat bees hovering around my back porch for the last week or so.

Today I saw two of them, uh, "dancing"...  


Wait a minute, bees don't mate, do they?  I mean, that is what the queen is for, right?  And she is rarely out of the nest, right?

Hmmm...maybe a couple of worker bees looking for a little love?