Yes, killer bees are back. But you shouldn’t panic, says Lewis Bartlett.
First spotted in the US in the mid-1980s, the so-called “killer bee” created mass panic as it spread across the South. But was that fear justified?
Originally crossbred to improve honeybee health in Brazil, the bee instead became incredibly defensive and was accidentally released in the 1950s.
But as new sightings of the bee in the Southeast increase, researchers like Bartlett, an assistant professor in the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, are reminding the public that the killer bee may not be as scary as it sounds:
Why are they called “killer bees”?
The Africanized or killer bee, what I call a hybrid bee, can be dangerous once bothered because it combines the worst traits of both European bees and African bees.
You get a creature that is quick to defend its nests and very quick to sting. They’re stronger and more resilient than most of the bees we keep, which is why they’ve spread.
It’s worth remembering that they are similar to normal honeybees. They’re just a different breed. It’s like discussing a bulldog compared to a shih tzu—they’re both the same species.
The real issue is more about whether the two species are intermingling and breeding. Those genetics that underpin the hybrid bees’ defensive and more dangerous behaviors can creep into our own honeybee stock, and that’s really when intervention needs to happen.
What do Africanized bees look like?
Looking at them, you can’t tell any meaningful difference between the typical honeybee colonies that beekeepers keep here in Georgia and the hybrid bee.
The only way to truly tell if a bee is a hybrid is to genetically test it.
What you can observe, however, with a hybrid colony is that very rapid defensive behavior. When the colony is approached, there’ll be many hundreds or thousands of bees that quickly emerge to defend it. That’s usually a surefire sign.
Where can you find killer bees?
These hybrid bees are a warm weather bee, so they tend to be much more prevalent in the geographic South. We suspect the largest number of hybrid bees are in Florida and especially in South Florida. But they’re also common in West Texas, the Southwest, and Southern California.
They do occasionally make it into more northerly regions, but the cold weather tends to keep them at bay.
Any region across the South might encounter these bees. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Carolinas are doing a pretty good job of snuffing out these hybrid bees once they appear.
Feral hybrid bees, which are bees that have escaped or otherwise fled from being managed by people, typically will live in hollows—what we call cavity nesting. They don’t want to live underground. They want to live above ground in some sheltered environment.
Their natural habitat can be tree hollows or crevices in cliffs or the equivalent in more urban and suburban environments. That’s often inside people’s walls or homes, particularly if there’s very little insulation or otherwise convenient gaps between floors and walls.
What risk do these bees pose?
These bees create new colonies more frequently than our standard managed European bees, so they reproduce a little bit more quickly and possibly with those genetics that underpin their more dangerous behaviors.
Those genetics can creep into our own honeybee stock to the point where they are so ubiquitous that it is impractical to get rid of those undesirable behaviors.
At that point, we’d have to move toward beekeeping in a different fashion, and people would have to be much more wary of bee colonies.
It’s actually quite hard to become allergic to bee stings, but if someone is already at risk from anaphylaxis from bee stings, the colony poses a significant threat.
What should you do if you come across Africanized bees?
If you accidentally disturb a nest or colony that you weren’t aware of, don’t panic too much, and don’t try to take care of it on your own.
Back off as quickly as possible and call your local UGA Cooperative Extension office, Georgia Department of Agriculture, or local beekeeping club to see if there’s anyone who can come out and assess those bees and make a decision as to whether they seem to show that aggression.
There’s a specific training and certification process for beekeepers who are specifically qualified in removing bees from structures. They can do that safely, effectively, and with minimal damage to property.
Source: University of Georgia
