some are still looking...and finding: The Florida Times-Union Thursday, May 6, 1999 Story last updated at 10:56 a.m. on Wednesday, May 5, 1999 Killer bees trapped at port Unwelcome arrivals pose no threat By Chris Scribner Times-Union business writer Several thousand African bees were caught and destroyed in Jacksonville last month, state agricultural officials said yesterday. African bees, commonly called killer bees, are more aggressive and temperamental than their domestic counterparts, but officials think they have captured them all. The potentially harmful bees were found April 23 in two traps at the Jacksonville Port Authority's Blount Island terminal. On Monday, agricultural inspectors brought a third trap from the Northside terminal to their Gainesville lab, but the hive included no African bees, said Laurence Cutts, the state's chief apiary inspector. While swarms of African bees can be a danger to people, a handful of them should not cause any problems, a University of Florida professor said. ''Just having a few bees flying around is nothing,'' said Tom Sanford, a beekeeping specialist at the university's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. An established swarm of African bees, which can include about 10,000 to 20,000 bees, can be dangerous because if provoked, hundreds of bees together will attack people and animals. The bees, which are not more poisonous than domestic - or European - bees, have been known to chase people for up to half a mile, said Glenn Hague, African bee technician for the state's Division of Plant Industry, who on Monday completed DNA analysis on 50 of the bees. In the United States, five people - all of them elderly and with limited mobility - have been killed by bee stings since 1990, according to newspaper reports. This was the third time in the past decade that African bees have been found at the Jacksonville port, said Cutts, adding that the bees likely traveled here aboard a container ship from Puerto Rico, which has an established population. There is no known African bee population in Florida, although swarms have been discovered 17 times since 1983, when they first were found in the port of Miami, said Cutts. African bees migrated into the United States from Mexico in 1990 and they are now in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, said Sanford, a professor in Florida's department of entomology and nemotology. So far, the bees have not traveled eastward from Texas. ''The chances of them establishing a population of bees in Jacksonville is remote,'' he said. The bees ''haven't migrated to Florida. The only ones we've found have been hitchhikers off boats,'' said Hague. The Blount Island discovery marks the first time that bees have been caught in the agricultural department's traps - or bait hives as they are called by the bee inspectors. Previous swarms have been reported by ships' crews or dockworkers, said Cutts. The hives have been used since 1985 and are checked every three weeks. Located most often at ports and along the interstates, there are 500 bait hives in the state, including 27 in Duval County. ''We try to intercept the bees that come in'' to the state, said Hague. This week the inspectors will put another 24 hives - which look like oversize papier-mache flower pots and are filled with a pheromone that attracts bees - on the JPA terminals. The University of Florida Pest Alert WWW site at: http://extlab7.entnem.ufl.edu/PestAlert/ 05/06/99 - So Called "Killer Bees" found in Jacksonville Florida Port No Evidence of Permanent Florida Population of African Honey Bees Yet Found A press release by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) dated May 5, 1999 announced detection and destruction of two swarms of African honey bees found near the port of Blount Island in Jacksonville. Both were found in bait hives placed by FDACS for intercepting these kinds of honey bees that might come off ships. The bait hives were located in a container yard holding cargo shipped from Puerto Rico, which has an established African honey bee population. An additional 24 bait hives will be placed throughout the port and follow up inspections are scheduled to determine if other colonies exist. This detection marks the first time in Florida that African bee swarms have been detected in bait hives. Previous swarms have been reported by ship s crews or dockworkers, who have been alerted to look for bees by state, USDA and customs officials. Swarms have been found 17 other times since 1983. African bees are sometimes called "killer bees," according to the press release, for their aggressive defense of their hives. The "killer" term comes from their reputation in many tropical areas, where these defensive insects have been responsible for deaths of animals and people. This has been picked up by various media and spread liberally around the state and nation over the years. Use of the term, unfortunately, may skew the public's opinion and concern about this particular detection of these insects. This could lead to unjustified and unwarranted worries and actions based on the sensationalism of the "killer" label. The detection of African (often called "Africanized,"or simply "AHB") honey bees in bait hives does not mean there is an established population in Florida. There is no evidence of this yet in the Jacksonville area or other parts of the state where bees from undetermined origin were found on ships. One should be very skeptical of calls or information suggesting anyone in Florida is encountering or being threatened by "killer" bees. "Killer" bees are a different variant of the common honey bee, extremely difficult to distinguish from other honey bees commonly found in the state. They are capable of mass attacks, but only near a nest. All honey bees of any kind should be approached with caution and any nests assiduously avoided. If honey bees attack, those affected should get inside houses, automobiles, and other enclosed spaces that bees cannot enter. Any stinging incident, no matter the type of honey bee, must be considered serious particularly if multiple insects attack. A physician should be contacted immediately for either allergic reactions (trouble breathing) from a single sting or mass envenomation resulting from multiple stings. For more general information on these insects, see : http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/scripts/htmlgen.exe?DOCUMENT_MG113 For a more in depth and historical treatment see the APIS web site index on the Africanized honey bee: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/threads/ahb.htm Tom Sanford Extension Apiculturist Publisher of APIS http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis.htm Department of Entomology and Nematology University of Florida [log in to unmask] 352-392-1801 x 143