Hotline Created to Report Killer Bees
A toll-free number to report Africanized honeybees, also known as killer bees, is now in service: (888) 220-BEES.
The Ventura County agricultural commissioner urges residents to report suspicious bee activity.
The bee hotline will be staffed from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The bees were discovered in Calabasas on March 5 and may already be established in Ventura County. More aggressive than European honeybees, they are easily provoked and attack in swarms. Since their arrival in California, there have been 30 stinging incidents. Five people in the United States have died from killer bee attacks since the insects arrived from Mexico in 1990.
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