Africanized Honeybees in the Florida Everglades


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Africanized Honeybees in the Florida Everglades

By Tom Smith
Jan. / Feb. 2009

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A Bee Alert about Africanized honeybees (a.k.a. "killer bees") has been published by the Animal Control Division of the Public Works Administration of Pompano Beach, Florida. The 4-page article (88.2 KB PDF) by Animal Control Officer David Aycock is posted here or can also be downloaded from Pompano Beach's Web site at URL http://www.mypompanobeach.org/directory/publicworks/animal/bee_alert.pdf.

Why am I directing you to this article?

In November 2008, while conducting fieldwork in a sawgrass marsh near the Harney River in Everglades National Park, my team got attacked by a swarm of bees that had several characteristics suggesting that they are Africanized. The bees were highly aggressive and followed us for some 80 m or so away from the initial point of contact. We subsequently discovered that the hive was very exposed, also characteristic of these bees. The hive was attached to the underside of a plankway—just like the plankways many of us use to access our study sites and hydro platforms (stations that house hydrologic-sampling equipment).

The attack resulted in a visit to the emergency room, where the team member who had been stung the most got treatment. So bee careful out there!


Above left: Aggressive bees nesting on underside of plank in a sawgrass marsh near the Harney River in Everglades National Park, Florida. [larger version] Above right: The hive underneath the plank. [larger version]


Above left: Hydrologic technician Gordon Anderson, a member of Smith's team, repairs a rain gage at the USGS hydrologic-sampling station (a.k.a. "hydro platform") near the Harney River. Note planks laid over sawgrass marsh to facilitate access to platform. [larger version] Above right: Ginger Tiling (left) and Karen Balentine, members of Smith's team, conduct routine maintenance on platform instruments. [larger version]

A final note: On December 5, Everglades National Park ranger and amateur beekeeper Dave Fowler successfully removed the hive. Samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, for DNA testing, which will determine the degree of Africanization in the bees. Thank you, Dave!