People and Agriculture : Killer Bees Could Pose Double Threat

William Wilson was moving dirt with a skiploader around a Kern County oil field when he spotted the dead fox. Nearby was a dead crow covered with dust.

Wilson stopped the skiploader for a better look, and then, as he watched from the shelter of the enclosed cab, a rabbit sprinting by was suddenly enveloped by a swarm of bees so thick, Wilson could not see its fur. The rabbit was stung to death.

Not far away, Wilson found the rest of the swarm in a burrow, which he quickly covered with oil-soaked earth. The next day, the burial spot appeared disturbed, as if some bees had dug their way out.

The insects encountered by Wilson were deadly Africanized honeybees--the first colony ever found in the United States. He discovered the so-called “killer bees” June 25, although the state Department of Food and Agriculture did not announce the incident until Wednesday, when positive identification was complete.

Chipping Away

The site of the bees’ home, a large maw in the middle of a vast oil field, looked like an archeological excavation in some Middle Eastern desert on Thursday. University of California, Davis, entomologist Norman Gary chipped at the edges, searching for honeycombs, and agricultural officials bottled dead bees and carefully dug for more samples.

The killer bees look just like innocuous honeybees, and their sting is no more toxic. They are dangerous because they travel in swarms, and the slightest disturbance will provoke an attack. For example, officials believe the vibrations from Wilson’s skiploader provoked the attack on the unlucky rabbit.

Officials Thursday began a search of a 400-square-mile area for more of the insects, which could pose a threat to commercial beekeepers and other agriculture interests. They fear one or more queens escaped, followed by some of the swarm with her.

Big Worry

“The nest had been there for months, and thousands were there. Our big worry now is that the bees who escaped don’t reproduce or breed with some of our honeybees,” said Gary, who recounted the discovery of the bees by Wilson, who was not available for comment.

The bees were probably “hitchhikers” carried into the United States in oil field equipment boxes shipped from South America. It is highly unlikely, Gary said, that they are part of the Africanized bee colony journeying northward from Central America.

The bees were found on the outskirts of Lost Hills, population 350, a dusty speck of a town off California 46, about 45 miles northwest of Bakersfield. Lost Hills is not used to much excitement. The biggest event of the summer, said a Kern County firefighter, was the day a bulldozer ran over a tractor.

Shared Stories

On Thursday, however, at the small grocery store at the edge of town, residents excitedly shared killer-bee stories. Most residents have plotted out contingency plans in the event they are suddenly assaulted by a swarm of bees.

“See that river in the distance,” said Roy Osborne, who operates a fruit and ceramics stand that features likenesses of Jesus, Elvis and assorted animals, “that’s where I’m headed. Water is your only salvation when faced with those bees. They can just cloud up and rain on you. Those rascals can do some serious punishment.”

Gregory Garcia, a gas station mechanic, is allergic to bee stings. He plans to hop inside the nearest car and roll up the windows when he sights the point bee heralding a swarm. Garcia is as agitated by the timing of the killer-bee announcement as the announcement itself.

“They found those bees over a month ago, and nobody said anything until this week,” he said. “We had a right to know earlier so we could have prepared and protected our families.

“And those bees were found real near a school where kids were in summer session. There could have been some real problems.”

State officials said the dead bees sent from Kern County to laboratories in Sacramento were not marked “rush,” so there was no special effort to speed identification. However, Bob Edwards, the Kern County agricultural commissioner, said a county inspector called state officials and notified them that they had been sent a possible Africanized honeybee sample for testing.

The bees could pose serious problems for agriculture in the area, Edwards said. Almond growers--who represent a $100-million industry in Kern County--rely on apiary firms to pollinate their trees, he said.

Displace Others

If the killer bees multiplied in the area, Edwards said, it would be increasingly difficult and expensive for beekeepers to handle them, because they tend to displace commercial bees. Melon, plum and seed alfalfa growers, he said, also depend on apiary firms for pollination.

Gary said the bees also carry parasites that could infect commercial bees.

If the bees are not contained, “it could be an economic disaster,” for the county’s growers, said Earl Surber, director of technical services for Blackwell Land Co. Blackwell, which has 5,500 acres of almond trees in Kern County, uses 10,000 to 12,000 hives a year for pollination.

“We can only hope this is an isolated instance,” he said.