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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Killer bees loom close
to Georgia borders
Proper response to aggressive bees can be critical
By Faith Peppers
University of Georgia
Researchers in Georgia
are keeping a watchful eye
for invaders from the south.
Tiny attackers, Apis mel
lifera scutellata, also known
as Africanized honeybees
or killer bees, have begun
a steady march north and
could reach Georgia borders
soon.
Fear not, said University
of Georgia Cooperative
Extension entomologist
Keith Delaplane. But do be
aware. Know the dangers
and how to react to keep as
safe as possible.
“If you are outdoors and
happen on an Africanized bee
colony and the insects attack
you, run and get indoors
and stay indoors,” he said.
“Don’t stay in one spot and
swat the bees or roll on the
ground. Run away. React the
opposite to if you were on
fire.”
Staying indoors a key
to safety
“If you are attacked and
run and jump in your car and
10 bees go in the car with
you,” Delaplane said, “don’t
leave the car to escape the
10, because a thousand are
waiting for you outside. Stay
inside even if a few follow
you in.”
Avoiding a massive num
ber of stings is the key. “With
Africanized bees,” Delaplane
said, “they can attack in
such large numbers that it’s
possible to receive a toxic
dose of venom. This is in
contrast to the more famil
iar allergic reaction in which
susceptible individuals can
have dangerous reactions to
even one sting.”
Recognizing an Africanized
colony is critical.
“You can’t tell by sight,”
Delaplane said.
“One negative backlash
to our educational efforts
has been oversightings. To
look at the bees, you can’t
tell. They’re smaller than
European bees. But even the
scientific tests we use to dif
ferentiate can be inconclu
sive.”
So how do you tell?
“Their behavior is the best
key,” he said. “Everything
(Africanized) bees do, they
Experts helping emergency response
workers get ready for African bees
By Faith Peppers
University of Georgia
As Africanized bees, some
times called killer bees,
approach Georgia’s bor
ders, University of Georgia
experts are helping emer
gency response workers be
ready to respond to a vic
tim’s needs.
UGA Cooperative
Extension entomologist
Keith Delaplane is working
with Georgia Farm Bureau
to train emergency medi
cal response workers know
what to do when they get a
distress call.
“The first line of attack
are the emergency respond
ers, since the general man
on the street will punch 9-1-
1,” Delaplane said. “So EMS
workers need to know first
and foremost how to address
an attack.”
Training in Macon
EMS workers can attend a
special training Nov. 9 from
9:30 a.m. to noon at the
Georgia Farm Bureau head
quarters in Macon. This
training is geared toward
EMTs, municipal agencies
and beekeepers.
“Our goal is to give an
overview of the biology, his
tory and present distribu
tion of Africanized honey
bees,” Delaplane said. “We
want to give practical advice
for beekeepers, emergency
responders and ordinary
citizens.”
Africanized honeybees
have been documented in
Florida since 2002. “We
know eventually they will
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Africanized honeybees don’t look much different from
the European honeybees, but it’s all in the attitude.
Africanized bees are far more agressive.
do it off the chart, pushed
to the extreme. If you bump
into a regular colony, you
might get 20 bees chasing
you. But if you bump into
an Africanized colony, you
may get 1,000 chasing you.
It’s the same response, just
multiplied.”
The best defense is avoid
ance.
“Don’t go near a nest,”
Delaplane advised. “They’ll
nest in unusual places that
European bees won’t bother
with, like a discarded can or
drink bottle. Their unusual
nesting habits increase the
chance for bee-and-human
contact. The nest is central to
understanding their behav
ior. A bee visiting a flower
is not a problem. It’s only
when they’re in their nest
and perceive it threatened
that their defense response
is triggered.”
If you see a swarm hang
ing on a limb, call your coun
ty UGA Extension agent, a
local beekeeper or a profes
sional bee removal service
for help.
Delaplane has been busy
distributing UGA Extension
bulletins and working with
local media to educate
Georgians about the bees.
First responders
Another target group is
emergency responders.
“Fire fighters and other
first responders will have
At A Glance
Traning class
EMS workers can attend a
special training Nov. 9 from
9:30 a.m. to noon at the
Georgia Farm Bureau head
quarters in Macon. This train
ing is geared toward EMTs,
municipal agencies and bee
keepers.
move our way,” Delaplane
said. “It’s important that we
get solid information in the
hands of as many commu
nity leaders as possible in
anticipation of the arrival
of Africanized bees in our
state. It’s a matter of hoping
for the best, but planning for
the worst.”
How to get there
For directions to Georgia
Farm Bureau building,
check online at www.gfb.org/
contact/m ap.html. For more
information on Africanized
honeybees, download the
UGA Extension bulletin
at www.en t.uga.edu/bees/
Publications/81290.pdf. Or
call your county Extension
agent at 1-800-ASK-UGAI.
Some beekeepers are
already becoming special
ized at removing the more
aggressive Africanized bee
swarms. And that’s impor-
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to deal with mass stinging
incidents,” Delaplane said.
Throughout the year he and
his colleagues have been
conducting statewide semi
nars for EMTs, fire fighters
and police forces.
Delaplane has been work
ing with beekeepers too.
“We’ve been talking about it
for a long time with them,”
he said. “They’re a very
important part of this pro
cess in many ways. First, the
European honeybees they
keep are a natural defense
against Africanized honey
bees taking over.”
Some areas have passed
zoning rules to eliminate
beekeeping to try to stave
off the Africanized bees.
Delaplane says that’s the
wrong tactic.
“Beekeepers are friends,
not enemies in this process,”
he said.
“Some areas tend to zone
out beekeeping, which is
ill-advised. If you withdraw
the gentle European bees,
you’ve just opened up the
environment to allow the
Africanized bees to take
over. A large local European
bee population is the only
way to restrict the African
variety.”
Faith Peppers is a news
editor for the University
of Georgia College
of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
tant.
“We don’t have a pest con
trol industry that’s plugged
into the problem,” Delaplane
said. “An attack is a problem
for EMS, but if a colony has
moved in and is confirmed to
be African, that’s a problem
for a pest control service. By
and large, pest control com
panies don’t want to deal
with it and consider it a
hyperspecialty that’s outside
their work.”
Delaplane would like to
change that.
“I’d like to cross-train the
industry, but we’ve not had a
lot of interest,” he said. “We
have had a small cadre of
beekeepers who are looking
at going into bee removal.
There will be more demand
for this special skill set that
general pest control workers
won’t have special training
for. You have to remove the
hive in a wall, not just spray,
so you have to have some
carpentry skills, too.”
(Faith Peppers is a
news editor with the
University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.)
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