Killer Bees

I have personally been attacked by Africanized "Killer Bees". The good news is that I was wearing a bee suit at the time.

Here in Brazil that's the only kind of honeybees we get and my Father-in-law used to raise them for the honey. We once had to pick up one of his beehives and move it about 100 meters. When you work with Africanized bees you have to use 100% protection. They are actually smaller than regular honeybees but its like all that bee bad attitude got concentrated, they are very agressive.

We put two poles under the hive and picked it up. All was fine until the hive started to move. My face screen was almost totally covered, upper body totally covered with bees. The SOUND was enough to give you a heart attack. We moved the hive to its new location and took off. I jogged for about a half km before they finally gave up. If the bees don't get you running in 98 degree heat in a bee suit will. We took a long route back to give the hive a wide berth.

Interestingly enough they are totally unconcerned if you find them feeding on flowers or buzzing around big vats that used to have honey. They could care less if they are just feeding. I have been around hundreds of them without protection on many occasions and they are no more trouble than flies. There are roadside stands here that sell sugar cane juice. There is normally a cloud of bees buzzing around but they remain very focused on sugar.

Mac

ETA - "They have boxes in their backyards and in their villages. I've seen several videos of them handling the boxes and swarms with none of the heavy duty body suits that we wear, just tees and shorts..." Paleojoe

I would say that entirely depends on what was in the boxes. If you are working with bee boxes rebuilding them, removing honey from the combs etc the place will be filled with bees if there is honey to attract them. I have done this as well, off in a neutral location working with bee boxes that don't contain an active hive you're fine without protection. You try that with an active hive and you are really in for a world of hurt.
 
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I got a chance to speak with a ranger out at the Everglades National Park. He told me not to be concerned. Though they are out there they haven't been a problem. Must be the brackish water. The attack I mentioned before was along a fresh water canal.

Still I would like to be more prepared than to take nothing to deal with them.
 
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I was just reading about this yesterday in Camping and Wilderness Survival by Paul Tawrell and he mentions that if there is no shelter to run behind bushes, trees, a fence or other obstacle that blocks the bee's line of vision. He also mentions not wearing bright colored clothing in another part (not necessarily in regards to Killer Bee's) and that taking B vitamins, not wearing perfumes, using scented soaps may help to keep bees (in general) away or at least not attracting them. Pretty much don't look like a flower.

This information was in section 45 (Insects and Spiders)and 49 (insect stings) of the 2nd edition. In section 45 he specifically talks about Killer Bees.

Hope that helps.
Jason
 
I have some small colonies on my farm. No problem.
At my other farm I had a colony with a nest as big as a sheet of plywood.
I called the "bomberos, fire fighters".
They add a pesticide to the tank on the truck and wipe them out.
They're just bees......until you mess with their nest or tree.
Territorial critters, for sure.
 
JD Spydo said:
Hey "HT" that is very interesting information. Are you a beekeeper or do you have any scientific training in that area? That information sounds feasible and I'm all ears when it comes to preparing myself for any kind of defense from potentially dangerous animals of any kind.

About a year ago I saw a TV special and to the best of my memory I think it was on ANIMAL PLANET. They did say in that special that the Africanized Killer bees got started down in Brazil and worked their way up to where they are now. They did say on that show that they were the only species of honey bees that could potentially be aggressive without being provoked.

What you say about hearing the hive from far off I know is true because they said that the KB's always have huge hives so that stands to reason. It's a serious danger because several times more people are killed every year by wasp and bee stings but most everyone is far more afraid of snakes and spiders than they are of bees, wasps & hornets :confused:

I had a local beekeeper here in Missouri tell me that one of the best defenses against any bees is "smoke". He showed me how he used a pail in which smoke was cascading out of it while he took the honey from the hives.

The one thing that really scares me about the killer bees is that they tend to be really random about where they make a hive. So it's not very easy to indentify potentially dangerous places they could be setting up shop so to speak. I have a lot of interest in this subject because a few years ago I was very close to death because of disturbing a colony of yellow jackets. They said if I had got to the emergency room even 30 minutes later I would have surely been dead. I got stung by about 30 to 40 of them the doctor said.

It's surely a subject we all need to know more about. great thread
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I am not a beekeeper but Africanized bees are a fact of life down here. So I am not an expert, its just one of those things you have to be aware of. I have been buzzed twice by swarms on the move. Once while on horseback, I had a swarm pass me in the river bottom and once working on my well. When I was working on my well they went right over my head as I was sitting there. I just ducked and kept repeating “they don’t attack on the move” well maybe not repeating it, but I did say it to myself at least once :D and the experience was not fun, but I didn’t get stung. As I understand it while on the move the queen is vulnerable and they are just worried about finding a new home.

I have had three different hives removed from our property, once twice. The biggest one was featured on the discovery channel (I think) when they did a show about the bee guy in Bisbee AZ. I think he said he got 70 pounds of honey out of that one. It was like pulling teeth to get the rest of the family to agree to get the hives removed. One hive finally got big enough to affect our barn and riding area. Certain horse fly sprays would set them off. My wife got chased off by the bees once and I had to run in and untie a horse. That was finally enough to get the problem dealt with. I think it was a closer call than my wife realizes.
 
Horned Toad said:
I have had three different hives removed from our property, once twice. The biggest one was featured on the discovery channel (I think) when they did a show about the bee guy in Bisbee AZ. .
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Interesting, the block building with the hive I mentioned in an earlier post is not very far at all from Bisbee. Africanized bees are very common in AZ, I found several hives and would have liked to rob them but never did. Chris
 
Also on the USDA site:

Wetting Agents

Bees are easily immobilized and killed by wetting agents (surfactants) - including commercial liquid dishwashing detergent. Nonfoaming fire control chemicals and fire fighting foams with surfactant characteristics such as the aqueous film-foams (AFFF) also work

So I guess if you were really worried, you could carry a really small chemical fire extinguisher and maybe spray it back over your head as your ran away.
 
Talking about smoke, I went to church for a few years with a friend who had broken his back and was paralyzed from the waste down. He was out riding his 4 wheeler one day and high centered on a stump that contained a nest (murphy's law at its best). He couldn't run, and just rolled off the bike. Said all he could think was smoke, and since he was laying down in very fine sand, he said he just started throwing big handfulls up in the air. Said it seemed to help for the minute or so it took his brother to ride up and drag him onto another bike and high tail it out of there.

Just something else someone might try if you had to.

Doc

He was OK, but spent the night in the hospital. I forget how many stings he had, but it was something that NO ONE would want to go through.
 
windex drops them immediatly. it does something to the wings. they do this at the junkyards. ive seen it work.
 
I have done a fair bit of wasp and bee jobs in pest control and one thing I know is force yourself to stay calm when first confronted with a swarm and try to move away deliberately. If they mob you after that then run and the rest.
Bee's and wasp's are stimulated by adrenaline pheromones and it makes go terminator, you will feed them with fear by screaming and flailing, just run
 
Im out in Cali where we have plenty of killer bees and NO ONE I know or have ever heard of had ever had an issue with them here. They are out there and as long as you respect them and don't piss them off your more than likely going to be OK. Just don't piss them off and keep a look out and you'll be fine.
 
yoz's friend said:
windex drops them immediatly. it does something to the wings. they do this at the junkyards. ive seen it work.
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Many types of arthropods have tracheated breathing, meaning they breathe through little holes that dot along their sides. By use of soaps, etc. you clog these breathing holes and they suffocate.
 
guy at the junkyard told me the windex did something to there wings. a car had a big nest and they where pissed. he walks up withe windex bottle and starts spraying the stuff and they just instantly dropped. raid doesnt even work that fast,pretty impressive.
 
The bees home in on movement. I'm not saying when you are getting nailed by 40 bees at once, not to move, but if you are doing jumping jacks near a hive rather than moving at a deliberate pace away from them, you are probably going to get pegged. They go for darker items too. When working bees I won't let anyone wear dark sunglasses around me. I haven't dealt with a full on positive ID africanized colony myself, but just being aware makes these guys quite a bit easier to deal with. Africanized bees are just a little bit more ticked off than yellow jackets, and you have been dealing with them for a long time. There are only a few circumstances such as substrate vibration (like lawn mowers) or just bad time/bad place that have really made these a target for the media.

What to do if the bees are going after you:
If you have a shirt, make an attempt to lift it up over your head (cornholio style!) while running. Try and keep your hands from flailing. You will probably be swatting at the buggers but the big key is distance. The farther you get from their defensive source, the less they will be inclined to sting you. Head for tree lines, or darker places which put more obstacles in their way.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/apiculture/PDF files/1.01.pdf
 
Joezilla said:
There are only a few circumstances such as substrate vibration (like lawn mowers) or just bad time/bad place that have really made these a target for the media.
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Africanized bees are not up our way but I used to have this hive I called the "Africanized"

They were so cross that if you weren't careful lifting the lid they'd boil out of the hive and be on you, forget removing a frame no matter how much or little smoke you used.

Mine were on the hill above my garden and when I'd pound fence posts, or run the tiller or even hoe sometimes they'd come down and menace me.

If I lifted a hand like I was protecting myself forget it there would be like 20 of them moving in on me and if one stung me or left a stinger in my suit there'd be like 30 of them trying to sting me there.

The rest of my hives were mellow I could even work them w/o gloves but that one hive was WICKED. If you had one hole in your clothing they'd find it.

Also normally with most of my bees after I was in the hive 15 min later everything would be back to normal. But these guys would send guards in like a 30 yard radius around the hive and any movement would be challenged for like an hour or more.

I'd have to just stay away from that side of the house. One time after I fooled with them I was inside and my old bordercollie Joshua walked passed and they were on him. He headed for the creek:eek:
 
Hey thanks for the great info "Horned Toad" :) Sometimes just having raw, hands on experience is even better than info you would get from a Phd in the science of insects.

For the brother who has come up with the idea of "WINDEX" as a defense from the killer bees: Well I"m anxious to try that out. Personally I've yet to find anything that drops any flying insect dead as quickly as just plain gasoline. It especially works well on wasps, hornets and the dreaded yellow jackets we have an abundance of here in Missouri. I love to wait till after dark and go in and douse the entire nest with it. Since very nearly losing my life to stinging insects I go out of my way to kill any of the wasps, hornets and yellow jackets. I do try to leave honey bees alone because of their great benefit to the environment which is why I do hope that they come up with a way to control the Africanized monsters.

Speaking of Missouri we have a huge amount of bee keepers and honey producers here in this state. But we also have a huge array of wild flowers and other plants that the bees enjoy.

I've heard several sources tell me that we actually have a few africanized killer bees at the southern part of Missouri. However the Dept Of Conservation vehemently denies it when you speak to them about it. But just a few years ago they also vehemently denied that there were a healthy population of Mountain Lions here in the state. I personally know that's a lie because I've seen one here in Missouri with my own eyes. And I've also seen tracks of them in north Missouri where I use to work at.

The africanized bees are truly a problem. What scares me is that there are so many farmers here in Missouri that produce their own hay from livestock food. And I did enough hay hauling to know that bumble bees just love to nest in hayfields :eek: I hope to GOD that these africanized monsters don't go that route.
 
The REAL Commander said:
I'd like to know more wbout these buzzers too, since I really know nothing about bees at all, let alone the "Killer Bees". My immediate guess would be to keep an attacking swarm out of your critical orifaces, so cover mouth and nose so they don't get in there and sting causing swelling and possible suffocation. Would this seem right, along with a hearty sprint for a mile or two? (although I doubt I would be able to do that these days anyway, heheh)? :o
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i would like to think if i were being attacked by bees i could run a lot farther than i could right now

on a side note i grew up in the pass and my dad used to own a cabinet business what town did you live in
 
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