Africanized Bees’ Presence Grows in Region
They’re heeeere.
Africanized honey bees--the so-called killer bees that have been inexorably marching toward urban Southern California for years--are finally showing up.
One swarm of the aggressive bees arrived in Lawndale without wearying their wings, presumably stowing away on a cargo ship from South America to the Port of Los Angeles and hitching aboard a local freight train, county agricultural officials said. The bees then set up housekeeping in an existing bee colony between an apartment house and a city maintenance yard, officials said.
On Tuesday, DNA tests conducted regularly on the colony showed that it had been taken over by Africanized bees. The colony was destroyed Tuesday night without anyone sustaining stings.
There have been a handful of incidents in recent years in which Africanized bees have entered Los Angeles County by cargo ship, county officials said.
None of the bees have been found yet in Orange County, but officials are taking precautions.
“We know the bees are on our doorstep,” said Bob Sjojren, manager of the Orange County Vector Control District in Garden Grove. “We have our traps set in areas that have been historically high-activity areas for European honeybees. But as of Wednesday, no Africanized honey bees have been found.”
The county has 25 traps set in canyons, river areas and other anticipated routes of entry, Sjojren said.
Of greater concern, according to public officials, is the recent discovery of Africanized bees in urban areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. They have been trapped as far west as Corona, Norco and Fontana, and entomologists have been waiting for them to rear their stingers on unwitting victims.
That occurred Tuesday near downtown San Bernardino after a bee colony was startled by the abrupt noise of a weed cutter and attacked a 68-year-old gardener, San Bernardino fire officials said. The victim was stung more than 90 times and on Wednesday was recovering in a local hospital. A mother and two children, walking past at the time of the attack, suffered a few stings before retreating to a car. Two firefighters responding to the scene also were stung several times before killing the colony with a foam that drowns the bees.
The Africanized bees had established their colony in an abandoned hive maintained by a retired beekeeper who, ironically, volunteers his time teaching about bees at local schools and helping fire departments eliminate nests of bees, hornets and wasps.
The Africanized bees’ arrival has long been feared because of their hyper-aggressive nature when provoked. And it has long been anticipated because of their steady northward migration from Brazil in the late 1950s up to the border with Mexico.
When they crossed from Arizona into the Imperial County desert several years ago, their migration slowed. But last winter’s El Nino weather pattern provided them the conditions for a final push into the Los Angeles Basin.
San Bernardino County officials say they now consider all of the county to be colonized by the Africanized honey bees.
Riverside County officials say that based on captured samples, they assume Africanized bees have established themselves in all but the southernmost parts of their county.
In Lawndale, a beehive in a concrete wall between a city yard and the next-door apartment house on 159th Street had pestered city workers for years, said Lawndale city spokeswoman Diane Fillman. Los Angeles County officials had tested the bees several times to determine whether Africanized bees had invaded the colony. On Tuesday, the tests came back positive, and the bees were killed Tuesday night.
The bees tend to swarm through the dry summer and fall months in search of new food and water. During that stage, they are not considered dangerous.
But after establishing a colony they become hyper-defensive and attack if startled, said Bill Routhier, an expert on Africanized honey bees with the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
Under a proposed response plan for Orange County, the Vector Control District is responsible for educating the public about the bees, and for bee monitoring and detection. For pest control, residents must contact private pest operators.
The district has an informational pamphlet on the bees and tips on avoiding being stung. For a copy, contact the district at (800) 734-2421 or (714) 971-2421; or visit the district office at 13001 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove.
Times staff writers Jean Merl and David Reyes contributed to this report.
