Re: NANFA-L-- perils of Fla collecting

J. C. (hillbillynursery-in-yahoo.com)
Tue, 1 Aug 2006 13:27:06 -0700 (PDT)

Sorry for your bad bee experience. If you would have
said they attached without you kicking their home I
would probly agree they are africanized honey
bees(AHB). All bees though will protect their hive if
disturbed. I removed a hive here in TN which the owner
swore they were africanized. They are making honey for
me now. Not the gentlest hive of mine but by no means
are they africanized. The problem was they were in the
wall of an old mobile home. You shut the door and the
whole house shakes type thing. Then the hive was only
4 feet from the front door so every time he went out
he made the bees mad and got attached. I would not
have made this reply but as a beekeeper I know the
real dangers of working with bees and have beekeeping
friends in TX and FL that are dealling with AHB fear
many people are accepting the medias spin on this
topic. Yes AHB are more prone to attach without you
disturbing their hive and will normally attach in
greater numbers and follow you farther than normal
European Honey bees(EHB). I wish you would have kept
one or more of the dead bees and gave them to the
county ag extention officer. That way if they tested
possative to be AHB they would have been destroyed and
if they tested negative they would have been left
alone. The test is a DNA test.

Hope you feel better soon, John

--- Noturus2-in-aol.com wrote:

> I was out collecting fish this past Tuesday about 7
> miles south of South
> Bay, Florida. It was off Rt 27 sugar cane country.
> There are irrigation ditches
> alongside the fields of sugar cane. Driving along
> the ditches looked weedy and
> I thought a good collecting opportunity.
> I pulled off the highway got out my net and some
> breathing bags just in case
> I caught something interesting.
> I began dipping and caught a few Mayan cichlids,
> Lucania goodei and
> gambusia. Up ahead the ditch looked better so I
> began to move up the bank. There
> was an old rubber truck tire that I hit with my
> foot. Almost immediately a
> swarm of bees came up out of the tire targeting my
> ears and neck. I scrambled up
> the bank screaming all the way, got to my car which
> of course I had locked. I
> fumbled for my keys and got in. Lots of bees in the
> car and plenty more
> outside. I scraped what I could off and drove a ways
> away and opened the windows
> to let out most of the bees. I kept finding one in
> my shirt one in my shorts
> etc.
> Almost at once my lips and ears began to swell. I
> had some water in the car
> and washed off where most of the stings were. I also
> had some Aleve with me
> and took a couple. I picked stings out of me for
> about 20 miles down the road.
> I'm not allergic but was thankful I survived the
> attack.
> All in all a pretty horrific event. I looked at some
> bee sites on the
> Internet and am sure that these were africanized
> honey bees.
> Andy Borgia
> Key West, Fl
>
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>

John Cox of Cumberland Killifish
Honey Robber beekeeping and removal services

Please join A Fishy World my new email group all
about fish at AFishyWorld-subscribe-in-yahoogroups.com
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml