City Now Officially Colonized By Killer Bees

Yahoo! Pager - buddy lists, instant messaging, email notification

City Now Officially Colonized By Killer Bees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles -- a city of fires, earthquakes and mudslides -- has a new woe to contend with: colonization by killer bees.

Los Angeles county's agriculture commissioner announced Thursday that Africanized honeybees -- known as ``killer bees'' because they have slain at least five people in the United States -- have moved into the last killer bee-free zone in the sprawling 4,083-square mile (10,616-square km) county.

Commissioner Cato Fiksdal said the bees were recently found lurking under the eaves of a building in the suburb of Palmdale, which previously had no killer bees.

``As a result of the recent detection in Palmdale, we are officially declaring that the entire county of Los Angeles is now colonized by the bees,'' Fiksdal said.

``This particular colony was suspect and we sent the DNA to (be tested) and they confirmed it.''

Killer bees are no more venomous than normal bees but are considerably more aggressive and thus sting more readily.

Fiksdal said the declaration was made to alert residents to the bees and ``to let them know that they should not try to remove or deal with a colony of feral bees on their own. They should call for a professional.''

The first swarms of Africanized honeybees were discovered in Los Angeles county last December, Fiksdal said. Some came via ship from Central America, while others migrated from other parts of the country.

The surrounding Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties have already been colonized.

The bees' last known victim was a 72-year-old man in Casa Grande, Ariz., who was attacked and killed in his mobile home in April 1997.

Fiksdal said anyone attacked by a swarm of killer bees should cover his or her nose, mouth and eyes, get into an enclosed area and call 911. Fiksdal advised against going underwater because, he said, the bees wait for their victim to resurface.

Apr 14 | Apr 13 | Apr 12 | Apr 09 | Apr 08 | Apr 07 | Apr 06 | Apr 05 | Apr 01 | Mar 31

Home

Full Coverage