Killer bees in city early — blame the drought

Africanized bees have been forming new colonies around the city since February or even earlier this year, when that usually starts in mid- to late March, experts say.

There's not enough food for the bees in existing urban colonies or in the desert where many of the bees normally live.

"The bees are kind of confused," said Justin Schmidt, a research biologist who until last year was the Africanized-bee expert at the federal Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson.

"Normally, in January and early March, there will be lots of flowers from early rains in the desert — mesquite, mustard and mistletoe — that provide good food for them," he said.

"This year we haven't had any of that. You walk around in the desert and there are no flowers. The bees are kind of starving."

Midtown resident Lois Longobardi got a swarm of bees for Valentine's Day — it flew into her backyard grapefruit tree. Ultimately, she had the bees killed in part because her husband is allergic to bee stings, she said.

But while the Africanized bee's sting can be deadly, the swarms usually aren't harmful, experts say, unless the bees stay around long enough to form a hive. That doesn't usually happen.

Still, some pest control company officials and a just-retired University of Arizona bee expert say the drought has increased the bees' aggressiveness and toughness and made them harder to kill.

The former UA expert, David Langston, who was superintendent of the university's Maricopa Agricultural Center, also predicts the total number of bees in Tucson this year might actually increase.

Overall, though, most authorities say they expect Tucson to get fewer bees this year because there isn't enough rain to nourish the mesquite blossoms and other wildflowers from which they feed.

Drought should also slash the number of termites and mosquitoes seen in Tucson this year, experts say. But those bugs could still thrive, if people don't manage their yards and swimming pools properly to keep stagnant water from building up, they say.

Longobardi's husband, David, spotted the bee swarm in late afternoon, and it looked about the size of a football, Lois said.

"It was just a swarm, brown-colored," said Longobardi, a UA human resources specialist. "We were surprised. We hadn't had any problems with bees until now."

Acting on the advice of UA bug expert Carl Olson to give the bees time to move, the Longobardis waited five days before having an exterminator spray the bees with chemicals to kill them, for $80.

By then, she and the exterminator thought the bees were starting to build a hive, which often causes bees to behave more aggressively. The exterminator told her that in a couple of days they would have been much harder to remove.

The couple also had two dogs they were concerned could be stung, she said.

Entomologist Olson didn't criticize that action but said he doesn't think those bees posed a threat. Based on the description he got, it sounded like the bees hadn't yet constructed a hive. Typically, bees form hives in sheltered areas, he said.

But Marylou Stengel, business manager of the UA's entomology department where Olson also works, said that when longtime co-worker Longobardi called her for advice shortly before calling the exterminator, "I said, 'I think you have to go with your gut feeling.' "

A former beekeeper but not an entomologist, Stengel said, "I think if you are fearful enough you should probably just call someone, a bee-removal place."

A sheltered bee colony turned up late last week at the North Side home of Claire Scheuren. Her aging mother's caregiver spotted bees buzzing around a gate, Scheuren said Wednesday. The bees didn't attack, but the caregiver thought they seemed a little aggressive.

Ultimately, the bees were traced to a hole less than an eighth-inch wide in the corner of a ceiling in the garage.

They were exterminated because her mother and another houseguest were staying there, and the family has two dogs and a cat, Scheuren said.

Tom Martin, president of Arizona Pest Control Co., said his company's officials have actually seen colonies full of dead bees out in the desert this winter, because their honey stores have diminished to the point where they are dying from starvation. The company monitors Africanized bees in the desert as well as in Tucson and Phoenix, he said.

The bee colonies that survive and come into the city have stored more honey and developed a genetic propensity to have more bees, Martin said. They will make more lethal attacks and must be sprayed with a calming agent before being killed, he said.

While Southern Arizona's total bee population will probably decline this year, many desert bees will swarm and look for more suitable homes in the city, boosting Tucson's exposure, Langston said.

"My understanding is that Africanized bees have a tendency if the going gets tough, they pack up and leave, while European bees stay and starve to death."

Schmidt, however, said that because the fall was so dry, most bees have probably already bolted from the desert into the city. One would also expect bees to get less aggressive over time, he said, because people will call exterminators to kill off the ones who sting them. That leaves behind more docile ones that would then produce more, he said.

Bee safety tips

Page A7

● If bees are swarming you, run. A healthy person can outrun a bee. Standing and swatting them is dangerous and will only provoke them. If possible, run inside a building or another place where you can keep most of the bees out. If you're stung, scrape the stinger off with your fingers rather than plucking it out, which could intensify the sting. If you see an animal or person being attacked, don't attempt to help. The bees will attack you, too. Call 911.

Source: Star archives