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Killer Bees!

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03:20 pm
5/28/09

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theresamather
So they removed a huge killer bee colony from a home a block and a half away. There were 150 pounds of honeycombs in the eves of the house and the hive apparently had been there for at least four years. So all the bees in my yard for the last four years have been killer bees. They didn't act any more aggressive than regular bees, they just buzzed around and did usual bee things. I guess we should have been tipped off by the fact that honeybees can't survive the winters here... now we know. But a small twisted part of me is also kind of disappointed that after all the hype of the 70's and panic in the media and movies, I lived near killer bees for 4 years and they seemed just like regular bees, happily pollinating my apple tree and rolling in yellow pollen in the wildflowers. Somehow, in my mind, they should have looked more sinister...with some kind of special stripes, larger size or little villain's capes or something.
Even so, I'm very glad no one got hurt.

EDIT: Link to news coverage including video and pictures. I should note though that contrary to the caption, Cedar City is not in Utah county. :P
Click here

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On May 28th, 2009 09:50 pm (UTC), [info]changewinds commented:
Yikes! I'm glad you are okay and have never had any adverse encounter with them. Well, one of the reasons I find them so scary is precisely because they look like the typical honeybee. Killer bees incognito!
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On May 28th, 2009 10:56 pm (UTC), [info]tg2k replied:
So...do they produce regular honey? And with 150 lbs, does any of that get around? ;-)
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On May 29th, 2009 12:05 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
They poisoned the hive, so I assume it was all tossed.
I buy Utah honey though, in 5 pound containers when I go to the cheese factory store in Beaver, about an hour up the highway. Wonder if it's killer bee honey? :P

Edited at 2009-05-29 12:05 am (UTC)
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On May 29th, 2009 12:11 am (UTC), [info]tg2k replied:
Probably the only thing "killer" is the taste!

Poisoned honey...what a waste! I'll have to look up whether it would have been any good now.

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On May 29th, 2009 02:51 am (UTC), [info]bovil replied:
"Africanized" bees (African/European honeybee hybrids) were, IIRC, bred because they were supposed to be more robust, tolerate tropical climates better and produce more honey.

On the down-side, they're more territorial, more likely to attack in groups and more likely to move out of a beehive that's regularly opened by a beekeeper.

These days there are all sorts of breeding tricks being done in areas where wild Africanized bees are found, over time resulting in more domesticated bees.

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On May 29th, 2009 05:23 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
It's pretty amazing that the people from the house were never attacked, but they must not have done anything that bothered them. I do suspect though that the bees must have been of a more domesticated strain, because they didn't even attack when the trees near their hive were cut down.
Personally, I don't know how you could not notice a large hive of bees in your walls for 4 years, but there are a lot of absentee owners here so who knows.
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On May 29th, 2009 05:35 am (UTC), [info]bovil replied:
Honeybees in the walls are apparently a common thing here in the formerly agricultural South Bay. They're often not noticed for years.

These days, if a hive is found, it's smoked, the walls are cut open (using thermal imaging to determine its size), and the hive/swarm is moved to a beekeeper.

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On May 29th, 2009 05:52 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
I'm posting an update to my post including a link to a news story with video showing the removal. Some bee keepers posted to the story offering to take hives.
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On May 29th, 2009 05:49 pm (UTC), [info]bovil replied:
So, it's not a full-blown killer bee hive, but there's quite a few killer bees in it

What a bozo.
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On May 30th, 2009 02:51 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
This state is truly an endless font of entertainment. ;)
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On May 29th, 2009 12:03 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
Do you know if some killer bees more "mellow" than others? The elderly couple who lived with them in their walls for four years apparently were never attacked. Did they just luck out, or do bees get fat n' happy?
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On May 29th, 2009 12:02 am (UTC), [info]drpaisley commented:
"Somehow, in my mind, they should have looked more sinister...with some kind of special stripes, larger size or little villain's capes or something."

I see a series of pictures in your future . . .

And thanks for sending #13 of the Fafnir/Rinfaf piece to ConQuesT. Managed to get it without going to auction.

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On May 29th, 2009 12:07 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
Glad you got the piece..:)
I might draw some killer bees, but they looked so disappointingly "normal" ...like a bee wolf in bee clothing or something..
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On May 29th, 2009 01:53 am (UTC), [info]drpaisley replied:
Well, there you go: Bee-Were!
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On May 29th, 2009 05:17 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
Doh! That one hurt!!! :P
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On May 29th, 2009 02:07 am (UTC), [info]dragonet2 commented:
I would wager
that they've cross-bred with honeybees sufficiently in some areas to have calmed down.

I'm trying not to think how awful it would be to have them inside the walls of your home. It appears that we have a bumblebee nest inside our walls, but they're a lot smaller in terms of nest-building, and don't store honey long-term. AND they are not very aggressive.

I know mostly because the first year I worked in a shop at our Renaissance Festival, I shook out a rug in the attic of our booth and uprooted a whole flock of bumblebees. Several hit my face fleeing but no one stung me.

The shop owner said she never saw anyone come down a ladder that fast, either. (I unrolled the rug, yelped as they shot out, and flang myself down the ladder like a fireman. She said bumblebees started shooting out of the crevices in the shop, too.)

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On May 29th, 2009 05:18 am (UTC), [info]theresamather replied:
Re: I would wager
I bet you're right. These didn't even really manage to attack during the bee removal.

Eek, bumblebees in the face...no fun!!

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