Hi All
 
This tuesday I recieved an URGENT call from the local municipality
about a swarm that had stung some people etc. I went to investigate.
 
Upon arrival the street was rather clear. I drove up to the address I
had been given and opened my car door. At that point I noticed bees
bumping all my windows and coming in the passenger window which was
open, as well as my now open door. Everything was quickly closed,
stings scraped out and bee suit put on.
 
At that point it became obvious that the bees had gone on a rampage.
A sort of quacking sound came from a house about sixty yards away
(30ish meters). Upon getting there there was a cloud of bees
surrounding a litter of two week old puppies who were hidding in a
patch of arum lillies. Another dog was inside the kitchen of the
house, abandoned by the domestic worker with all doors open. The dog
had smashed the cupboards and was inside, covered in margarine and
beestings and was unable to move. All were sent to the vet. The pups
died (sadly the offspring of a retired police dog, who had left the
force after her companion was promoted out of the dog unit), and the
other dog is still on a drip two days later. The mother of the pups
being an alsation jumped the fence and left. Another person lost a
cockateel and interestingly enough cats appeared to be exempt. Three
people had to be hospitalised, one who was sitting in her garden
unawares and suddenly got stung.
 
Why did the bee do this?
 
It appears that one of the municipal workers tried to rob the hive,
which was located in an old oak tree. After locating a hive it
appears he went and asked a domestic servant from a nearby housefor a
can of pesticide to kill the bees so he could get the honey. (not
very sharp) She gave him a can of insect repellant called Peaceful
Sleep. This is non-toxic, just chases bugs like mosquitos away. Next,
he climbed the tree and sprayed most of the can into the hive it
would appear. This drove the bees mad and they flew out en mass, and
were then unable to return to their hive, eventually electing to go
on a rampage.
 
To get the swarm out of the tree later, smoke failed, so I decided to
gas them. Not wanting to use pesticide to kill them, I tried using a
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) supposedly highly toxic. A small hole was
drilled in the tree and a long bottle with a few chuncks of iron
sulphide and a few teaspoons of hydrochloric acid were dropped in.
The hole was blocked up. After thirty seconds the whole swarm
appeared to rush out of the hive entrance and abscond. Next
they landed on a branch nearby and settled, no longer aggeressive at
all. It appeared that most of the hive must have stung things as it
was not an amazingly huge swarm, weighing about four pounds (2kg).
The queen was located and killed, just in case it was here fualt the
hive was so touchy about pesticide and a frame of brood from a good
hive given.
 
 
So lessons learned:
 
Insect repellant makes bees cross.
 
Hydrogen Sulphide is an excellent way of chasing a swarm out of a
tight corner. (dangerous though) It also seems to calm the bees. I
will post in a few weeks to say if the bees are acting normally in
case there are long term effects.
 
 
Anyhow, keep well
 
Garth
---
Garth Cambray       Kamdini Apiaries
15 Park Road        Apis melifera capensis
Grahamstown         800ml annual precipitation
6139
Eastern Cape
South Africa               Phone 27-0461-311663
 
3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology    Rhodes University
In general, generalisations are bad.
Interests: Flii's and Bees.