# Help! My new neighbors are 'African killer' bees!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 17, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958 "2003-05-17T22:50:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/1 "2003-05-17T22:50:39Z")
OK, this was totally freaky. I didn’t think they’d spread this far north-but there’s a swarm of bees that’s taken up residence in my neighbor’s back yard that sure do look like the pictures I’ve found of Africanized killer bees that have been spreading into North America these past few years. There are about 50,000 of them, by my estimate, and they’ve driven my neighbor’s dogs inside and my neighbor out. (He’s badly allergic to bee stings.) It’s an incredible sight-there’s a huge pile of bees clinging to the wall next to their back door, and a cloud of hangers-on swirling around them like a little black-and-yellow hurricane. I got some great video from about eight feet away from the main pile. (I am mostly immune to bee venom, and I’m also suicidally insane.)
So, what now? Are these bees likely to eventually move on, or will they need to be driven out? If the former, how long will their visit last? If the latter, how? None of us own flamethrowers, sadly enough. And why on earth did they pick my neighbor’s yard to move into? Nothing special about it that I can see …
Any ideas or anecdotes are appreciated. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/2 "2003-05-17T23:31:14Z")
Call your local animal control or ag extension. one of the two should be able to help.
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### Author:  [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/3 "2003-05-17T23:34:25Z")
\>clinging to the wall
They will be happier in a hive or skep. Since you likely don’t have any of them around, try putting out a box with a small hole at the bottom and a landing board.\*
The plan is they like it, they move in, they are sound asleep before it gets light tomorrow morning; you wrap a big garbage bag around the whole thing, and another garbage bag, and put them in a bigger box. Then you give them to the SPCA or a bee-farmer or a nut case like me. Don’t call the USDA, it’s a weekend, otherwise that’s what I’d recommend.
What area are you in?
Africanized bees make more honey (if they really are A.bees). What town are you in?
Box: Probably a medium cardboard box, slice a slot say 6-12 inches wide, less than 1/2" high, for their entrance, at the bottom front. Glue a slat or more cardboard for a landing sticking out at the base of the entrance maybe 4 inches, and as wide as the box.
They could easily go for this, and if they don’t, well sometimes they won’t go for the best of hives, oh well.
If they don’t have something like that to go into, they may find something to go into that may make the humans unhappy: a crack in your house wall for instance.
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### Author:  [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/4 "2003-05-17T23:40:05Z")
Can you call a beekeeper to come get them? Sir Hillary is likely to be busy, but there are probably some more local.
This is the time of year that bees tend to swarm, and also when they are highly in demand with farmers. It would be nice to know if they are killer bees, or just honeybees, which are quite useful. It may be comforting to know that bees are much less likely to sting if they are swarming–their focus is on their move and on protecting their queen, whom they are busily surrounding.
See if you can talk the bees into pollinating some of your local peach blossoms while they’re in the area.
Or try calling the area U.S. Fish and Wildlife people. They probably have some bait traps for those africanized killer bees, if that’s what they are. Along the highways in Texas, I remember seeing little blue boxes suspended from tree branches or posts that are designed to catch the killer bees, but that was years ago. I’m not sure if that’s still what they use.
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/5 "2003-05-17T23:41:24Z")
Well, they’re definitely honey bees-I don’t have the expertise to tell if they’re Africanized or not. They didn’t show any significant aggression towards me, but they sure stung the heck out my neighbor’s dogs …
And they’re actually gone-as quickly as they appeared. There are still a hundred or so hanging around, but the main swarm has vanished. It had looked like they were setting up to build a hive around a crack in their wall, but they may have given up and moved on. Or else they found a way in and the whole colony is living in their walls … :eek:
On the plus side, I’m moving in a couple of weeks. 😃
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/6 "2003-05-17T23:42:48Z")
Oh, and I’m just outside Dallas, TX. If anyone cares.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/7 "2003-05-17T23:45:53Z")
[QUOTE]
\*Originally posted by SCSimmons \*
> [@](#):
>
> \*\* . . . sure do look like the pictures I’ve found of Africanized killer bees that have been spreading into North America these past few years.\*\*
They aren’t necessarily Africanized bees:
From [here](http://agnews.tamu.edu/bees/FAQ.htm):
> [@](#):
>
> It is not possible to tell [Africanized and regular bees] apart just from looking at them with the naked eye. The bees must be analyzed in a lab through a process of dissection and measuring various body parts that are then compared against a huge database of measurements to determine if the bees fall into the range of bees that have proven in the past to be Africanized.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*So, what now? Are these bees likely to eventually move on, or will they need to be driven out? If the former, how long will their visit last? \*\*
What you have described is a new queen and a swarm that is looking for a place to build a new hive. They will probably move on in a day or two, unless they find a place to put their hive nearby - like a hollow tree, or possibly within the walls of a house.
> [@](#):
>
> The bees in the old hive make a new queen and she flies off with most of the younger bees of the colony to find a new place to live. The swarm lands on something that will enable them to stay huddled together while a few scout bees fly on to try to locate a suitable place to build a new hive. Because a swarm is in essence a group of homeless bees, they have nothing to protect. So, they are not likely to sting anything because they do not feel defensive. As for making them leave, it is best to let them stay put. Swatting at them could anger them and make them feel threatened into stinging. But just make sure that you have secured your property so that they do not feel like it would be a good place to build. And keep a watch while the swarm is near to see that the scouts haven’t located a place near where people and pets will be. That way, the scout bees will keep looking until they find a place further away that is less likely to be disturbed by people and animals.
> [@](#):
>
> **If the latter, how? None of us own flamethrowers, sadly enough.**
If possible, leave them alone until they decide to move spontaneously. If you feel they are a real menace, it’s probably best to call your local animal control agency. But if you do decide to take matters into your own hands, soapy water works better than flamethrowers:
> [@](#):
>
> Soapy water is one approved way to kill bees, but it has to be done with caution. The reason that soapy water kills bees is that the outer body of the bee has a waxy coating. In just the way that some commercials show soap cutting through grease on a dirty pan, the soap works through the waxy body and allows the water to enter, in effect drowning the bee. But it has to be done with caution, because enough soapy water has to be applied at once to all the bees or they will get mad and begin to sting before the effect can take place. If most of the bees are unreachable in a hive, therefore, spraying soapy water on the few bees that can be seen outside of the hive will not have much of an impact.
\*\*
> [@](#):
>
> And why on earth did they pick my neighbor’s yard to move into? Nothing special about it that I can see …\*\*
They haven’t actually “picked” it, they are just camping there until they can find a better place.
> [@](#):
>
> **sure do look like the pictures I’ve found of Africanized killer bees that have been spreading into North America these past few years.**
They aren’t necessarily Africanized bees:
> [@](#):
>
> It is not possible to tell [Africanized and regular bees] apart just from looking at them with the naked eye. The bees must be analyzed in a lab through a process of dissection and measuring various body parts that are then compared against a huge database of measurements to determine if the bees fall into the range of bees that have proven in the past to be Africanized.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/8 "2003-05-18T00:02:30Z")
It wouldn’t be all that surprising for them to have made it to Dallas. They appeared here in Houston about 10 years ago. The official advice here is to call the fire department.
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### Author:  [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/9 "2003-05-18T02:05:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by SCSimmons \*
> \*\*Well, they’re definitely honey bees-I don’t have the expertise to tell if they’re Africanized or not. They didn’t show any significant aggression towards me, but they sure stung the heck out my neighbor’s dogs …
>
> And they’re actually gone-as quickly as they appeared. There are still a hundred or so hanging around, but the main swarm has vanished. It had looked like they were setting up to build a hive around a crack in their wall, but they may have given up and moved on. Or else they found a way in and the whole colony is living in their walls … :eek:
>
> On the plus side, I’m moving in a couple of weeks. 😃 \*\*
Even if you are moving, I still think that you should call Animal Control/an exterminator and determine if they bees have in fact moved inside the house ,as it would be quite unfair for the next people living there.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/10 "2003-05-18T02:25:21Z")
Don’t bees die when they sting something? If you do have a hive of hyperagressive bees, wouldn’t setting up some sort of decoy goad them into expending themselves until most of them were dead?
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### Author:  [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/11 "2003-05-18T06:57:52Z")
Not all species of bee die when they sting.
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### Author:  [@Flying\_Monk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Monk)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/12 "2003-05-18T09:49:29Z")
What kind of demand is there for killer bee (or any type of bee or wasp) removal? Is this something that could be commercially done?
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/13 "2003-05-18T12:36:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Flying\_Monk \*
> \*\*What kind of demand is there for killer bee (or any type of bee or wasp) removal? Is this something that could be commercially done? \*\*
There _are_ people who do this commercially. They euthanize the bees/wasps/hornets and then turn them over to companies that make anti-venom from the dead insects.
It would be a shame to have the bees killed, however. In many areas of the country, bees are declining in number due to a variety of reasons. This, of course, is not a good thing at all, and there’s a small conservation effort out there, trying to increase the number of bees.
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### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-my-new-neighbors-are-african-killer-bees/175958/14 "2003-05-18T14:20:45Z")
OK, here’s the current situation. About 24 hours after the swarm first showed up, what I’m seeing is a couple of dozen bees flying around their yard. They look to be going in and out of a crack in the wall in the spot where the swarm had been resting yesterday. Does this likely mean that they’ve set up shop, or could it be residual from the swarming yesterday?
**Colibri** , yes, I agree, they could well be regular European honeybees. I got a good close-up view of a nearly-dead one to compare to photos on the web, and that source is right-I have no idea which it is … Behavioral evidence is inconclusive as well. They didn’t seem particularly aggressive-I stood (stock-still) about eight feet from the central swarm, with bees buzzing around my head, for 5-10 minutes shooting video, and didn’t get stung once. OTOH, I understand that even Africanized bees aren’t especially aggressive until they have a hive to defend. And regular honeybees aren’t nearly as likely to build a hive in a human-built structure, I’m told, preferring more out-of-the-way locations. If that’s what this swarm has done, that tells in favor of the Africanized bee theory. In any case, my neighbor says that one sting could send him to the hospital, so he’s highly concerned either way.
**Payton’s Servant** , this is in my neighbor’s back yard. My neighbors aren’t moving, and one is highly allergic to bees, so something will definitely be done. I’m really mostly curious. If I was the only one living here, I’d probably just accept the bees as neighbors, or maybe go into beekeeping. Especially if they’re not Africanized-I have virtually no reaction to regular bee stings, so the heaviest reaction to my intrusion from a normal swarm would be no more than an annoyance. Gotta pull out all those little stingers …
**Lumpy** and **Sock Monkey** , this type of bee does leave its stinger behind and expire after attacking. Haven’t been stung yet-but I’ve made a definitive ID of the species (to the extent that I can with an untrained eye), and that’s what the references say.
Thanks for all the input, guys. I’ll keep you posted!