The State : Anti-Bee Research Urged

An ambitious research program involving genetic breeding experiments is needed to fight migration into the United States of Africanized bees, a report prepared by University of California, Berkeley, researchers said. The recommendation was contained in a study requested by the Legislature, which is concerned about isolated finds of colonies of the Africanized bees in Kern County. The bees were thought to have arrived in cargo from Latin America. The current northward movement of the insects is expected to reach the California border about 1989. Africanized bees present a problem to commercial beekeepers who transport hives to pollinate about 40 crops in California. The report said bee research facilities on the Berkeley, Davis and Riverside UC campuses should be upgraded. “Time is of the essence,” Norman Gary, a bee biologist at Davis, said because of evidence that the aggressive traits of Africanized bees will not be diluted by cross breeding.