Below are two articles referencing the use of 
bees in the Veitnam war.

The article states that bumblebees were used
in the war by the Viet Cong.  But my gut tells 
me that they are using the term bumblebee, for 
lack of a better term, to describe a bee that 
they are not familure with.  Due to the ferosity
of the attack described in the second article,
and for the fact that the nest had to be relocated
and hidden in the bushes, I am suspecting the bee 
used in the attack was apis Dorsata.

Does anyone know the bee that was likely employed
by the Viet Cong in the Veitnam war?  Or references 
to the specific race of bee used?

Best Wishes
Joe Waggle 

(Article Excerpt)

Pacific Stars and Stripes
October 26, 1970, Tokyo, Japan

By Barney Seibert

Siagon (UPI) -The Viet Cong employ bumblebees,
fireflies and tiger fat in their war against the Americans
and South Vietnamese army, defectors say.

Fireflies are used for signaling. They need no batteries
and they are less likely to attract attention than
a flashlight, according to the defectors questioned by
U.S. experts on North Vietnamese affairs. Viet Cong
outposts are given small penicillin bottles filled with
fireflies and told to wave the bottle when an Allied
patrol approaches.

Defectors say the fireflies can be seen for at least
250 yards.

Bumblebees have been trained to attack U.S. soldiers
and South Vietnamese Rangers, the defectors told U.S.
and South Vietnamese questioners at the Chieu Hoi
(open arms) center near Saigon.

A defector who served as a bumblebee trainer said
the Viet Cong had at least 90 hives of the militant
bees in Long An and Kien Hoa provinces, in the Mekong
Delta area south of Saigon.

The bee trainer said that after a hive of bumblebees
was located in the jungle a trainer would make daily
approaches to the hive until the bees became used to
his presence. After a week or so, the trainer approaches
the hive with his hand coated with molasses and allows
the bees to come out and eat the molasses from his
hand.

A week or more of the molasses treatment and the
bees are tame enough to allow the trainer to use pruning
shears to detach the hive from its branch and transport
it to a desired spot.

There a Communist trainer clad in protective clothing
to guard against stings dons as an outer garment
a U.S. or South Vietnamese Ranger uniform.

The trainer in the Allied uniform approaches the
hive and beats it with a stick. When the bees emerge
and attack the trainer he rolls on the ground to simulate
the agonies of a human being stung by the bees, whose
stings are so venomous in large numbers they can
kill a water buffalo.

Several such attacks on the hive and the bees learn
to recognize the uniform and will attack it without
provocation, defectors told their interrogators.

When the bees are fully trained, a hive is taken to
a tree along a trail likely to be used by Allied patrols.
A small booby trap is rigged on the trail to be tripped
by an unwary soldier. A small charge is placed against
the hive to blow it open and enrage the bees. When the
booby trap is tripped the bees swarm out, spot the Allied
uniforms and attack.

The bee training program has been described in
Communist pamphlets as well as by defectors, North
Vietnamese affairs experts say, but military sources
say they are unaware of any combat deaths caused by
the bees. ..."

=====End Article=====

Pacific Stars and Stripes
December 15, 1969, Tokyo, Japan

DI AN, Vietnam (Special —
When you walk into a swarm of
them, you are bound to suffer
injuries. Ask anyone from D Co.,
2d Bn., 18th Inf.

The Big Red One unit had just
been inserted by helicopters
approximately five miles north of
Tan Uyen. The third platoon
assumed the lead position as the
company left the landing zone
and started plodding through the
waist-high scrub brush.

According to Sgt. Jonathon S.
Bertholf, Pfc. Frederick
Cadorna, the pointman, and three
others had moved about 200
yards when "all hell broke
loose."

"What appeared to be a vast
black wave buzzed out from the
nearby bushes and completely
engulfed the lead element,"
explained the sergeant. After
routing the startled troopers, the
dark cloud attacked the second,
then the first platoon, leaving
sweltering marks on the exposed
areas of the soldiers' bodies.

The company had made contact
with a swarm of angry bees!

The Vanguard troopers tried
to recall the reactionary procedures
for such a situation, but
their training had not covered
this malady of nature. The only
possible solution lay in a device
for subduing angry bees -smoke.

While the first and third platoons
employed smoke grenades
to lull the hostile force, the second
platoon scattered and hastily
set up a perimeter defense.

The bees were finally dispersed
by the downward blasts
of air from the dustoff helicopters
which arrived to remove
the 31 stung men.

Whether a fabricated trap by
the enemy or a whimsical episode
by Mother Nature, each
Vanguard soldier is convinced
he must know his bees-nee

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