Lubbock County, South Plains On Alert for Africanized Bees

Writer: Tim W. McAlavy (806) 746-6101, t-mcalavy@tamu.edu
Contact: Pat Porter (806) 746-6101, Marilyn Houck (806) 745-4814

LUBBOCK – Lubbock and other counties on the Texas South Plains are now on alert for the presence of Africanized bees, following the positive identification of these bees in two Lubbock County “bee events.” As of July 19, the Texas Apiary Inspection Service (TAIS) added Lubbock County to the list of 134 other Texas counties quarantined for Africanized bees.

The quarantine seeks to prevent the movement of Africanized bees out of those counties through inspection and certification of beekeepers’ hives. The TAIS is a unit of Texas A&M’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

The two Lubbock County “bee events” included both human and animal (dogs) contact with Africanized bees. No serious human injuries resulted, but one dog was fatally affected and others required intensive veterinary care.

A July 9 bee event in Cochran County involving humans, dogs and poultry may soon place that county under quarantine, too, if positive results of the Africanized bee identification tests conducted at Texas Tech are accepted by the TAIS.

“We want people on the South Plains to be aware of the presence of these bees, and learn how to recognize them and take preventative action against further stinging incidents,” said Dr. Pat Porter, Texas A&M entomologist based at Lubbock.

Porter and Dr. Marilyn Houck, Texas Tech professor of biological sciences, held a news conference July 19 at Texas Tech to alert South Plains residents to the presence of Africanized bees.

Porter and Houck have created an Internet website ( http://lubbock.tamu.edu/ahb ) that outlines the history and spread of Africanized honey bees in the Western Hemisphere. The site also provides advice on how to avoid contact, how to safely react once contact occurs, how residents can bee proof their property, and who to contact when a bee incident occurs.

Africanized honey bees are visually indistinguishable from common European honey bees, but their aggressive, “mob” stinging behavior and prolonged response (24 to 48 hours) to intentional or unintentional threats poses a real danger to humans, animals or livestock that encounter them. Persons allergic to bee stings and pets and livestock that are tethered or otherwise confined are most vulnerable to their stings.

Porter and Houck advised people to remember the acronym ACE if they encounter overly aggressive bees. “A means sound the alert to others in the area. C means cover your head and face; stings to the head and face are the most dangerous.
And E means exit the area as quickly as possible,” they explained.

They cautioned against trying to destroy the bees or hive after or during an encounter.

“The safest course of action is to get to shelter immediately and call 911. The only people equipped to safely deal with these bees are licensed pest management firms and beekeepers,” Porter said.

It is also imperative that city and county officials develop a response plan for dealing with Africanized honey bees, the scientists said.

Texans can get more information on Africanized honey bees from their local county Extension office, the Texas Apiary Inspection Service (979-847-8771), local Texas Department of Agriculture offices, or on the Internet at http://lubbock.tamu.edu/ahb or http://agnews.tamu.edu/bees.