‘Killer’ bee theory gets squished

By Rich Flowers

May 09, 2008 07:26 pm

— Mike Camp has received a determination on what type of bees swarmed him on April 30. What he doesn’t know is why the hive of European bees was so angry.
Camp said bees that had taken over one of the hives at his beekeeping operation near the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center stung him 28 times through his protective clothing. He thought at the time the attackers might be Africanized Honeybees, but tests at the Texas Apiary Association headquarters in College Station determined that was not the case.
Linda Bradley, Honey Bee Identification Specialist for the Texas A&M University Department of Entomology, analyzed samples of the bees that attacked Camp.
“There wasn’t anything unusual about them that I could tell,” Camp said. “Occasionally one is just ‘hot.’ It doesn’t matter if they’re European Honeybees or not, it doesn’t mean there’s not going to be some mean ones in there.”
Bradley said she tests about 100 samples from the public each year, with varying results.
“If they’re from West or South Texas they’re almost 100 percent Africanized,” Bradley said. “In Central Texas, there’s a lot of hybridization. In East Texas, there’s not a whole lot of Africanization yet. It pops up here and there.”
Camp said he has kept bees for several years without an incident like the one he encountered last month. Camp said shortly before he was attacked he discovered a pile of dead bees in the shape of a hard hat.
Camp went to a nearby hive, raised the lid and was immediately attacked and pursued by a swarm that covered his entire upper body. The cloud of bees followed him as he ran toward his house about 300 yards away. He escaped by running into his garage and turning out the lights.
TIPS Chief Inspector Paul Jackson said an attack of wild bees can be triggered by clearing land, brush or removing a tree stump where a colony might be present. In some cases the equipment operator might have seen the bees previously without noting any aggressive behavior.
In the city, mowing a lawn, trimming shrubs or working inside a wall might stir up trouble. The wild bees are more likely to appear after periods of heavy rain.
Camp said despite his ordeal, he does not want the public to be unduly alarmed of bees and destroy them at a time when the thinning of the population is a concern to agriculturists who depend on the insects for pollination.
“We’ve got to have bees. If we kill them we’re in trouble,” Camp said. “We need them for corn, alfalfa, you name it. One of the reasons a lot of people are having problems with their home gardens is the absence of bees.”
Bradley said many commercial hives have been hit by a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. In late 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives.
CCD, the cause of which is still under investigation, happens when an extremely low number of adult honey bees are present in the hive but a live queen is present. There are no dead honey bees in the hive but honey may be present.