http://www.news-press.com/

Florida's first Africanized honey bees showed up in the Tampa Bay area
in 2002. The main territory of Africanized bees is south from Tampa to
the east coast, said Jerry Hayes, chief of the Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services' Apiary Section.

"They're filling up the environment," he said. "We've lost a lot of
gentle colonies to predators and diseases. The feral population is all
gone, which opened up a niche for Africanized bees."

"That's what wakes me up at 2 in the morning, wondering if I've done
everything I can to educate people," Hayes said.

Entomologists advise people against trying to get rid of Africanized
bees themselves; instead, professionals should be called in.

The cost ranges from $100 for a free-hanging swarm to $800 depending
on how far the bees have moved into the structure, said Justine
Rizzolo, office manager for Pro Tech Pest Control in Fort Myers.

"I've been fighting these things for two years," Douyon said. "I've
called every institution I know, Health Department, Fire Department,
the Police Department. Nobody can help me."

"I hear it five times a week: people on fixed incomes," Hayes said.
"Yes, it's an awkward situation, but the alternative is to get hurt,
or maybe the bees kill your dog."

-- 
Peter L. Borst
Ithaca, NY
USA

http://picasaweb.google.com/peterlborst

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