Types of bees found in phoenix arizona


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HOME ABOUT US BEE REMOVAL BEE SWARMS BEE TYPES BEE FAQ WASP REMOVAL WASP TYPES WASP FAQ LINKS CONTACT US		About bees European bees Africanized bees Bumble Bees About Bees - Honey bees are very social creatures that live in hives of up to 60,000 individual bees. At certain times of the year like several weeks after it rains and the flowers start to bloom, the old queen will take part of the colony with her and separate from the new queen and the rest of the hive to fly out and look for a new home. While on the move, this group of bees are called a "swarm". The swarming bees sometimes rest in a large clump or group out in the open somewhere like on a wall or on a bush, tree branch, eaves of a home or even a car for 24 - 72 hours which is what a lot of people find when they come home from work and find a softball or football size clumps of bees around their home. Generally if the bees are in the open they will move on in 24 - 72 hours unless they found some place they can get the swarm moved into. Once bees find a suitable place to live, the bees will begin to build rather quickly a multi-celled structure called a comb. Any established colony of bees with comb and brood is much more defensive than a swarm that is just moving through looking for a home. Africanized and European honey bees both will defend their hive, but Africanized bees will do it much more aggressively and in greater numbers even chasing you 1/4 mile for the hive before giving up. Sometimes an entire hive of bees will leave or abandon an established hive which is called absconding which you may have read articles about called colony collapse where bee just leave the hive for no reason that we know of. You can't tell an Africanized bee from a European bee without a microscope, both bees look exactly alike, the same size and color. Some European bee hives can have both types of bees in the hive for a time as the hive changes over to Africanized if the new European bee breeds with an Africanized male bee. Types of bees found in Arizona European Honey Bees - are what you are use to seeing when you think of bees. They live in colonies made of wax. They can last for many years at a single nest site, becoming semi-dormant during the winter months. They feed on nectar and pollen. Bees are an extremely important and beneficial insect due to its production of honey and other products, as well as pollination of most plants. However, when bees nest inside of a wall or are creating a threat to humans or animals, unfortunately the only route is destruction in most cases. If you encounter a swarm (bees collecting together outside on a wall or in a tree), many times they move on within 24 - 72 hours. If at all possible, leave the bees alone and they will most likely leave you alone. When bees are swarming, they are usually migrating and are just resting. If it is close to the end of the day, and they stay overnight on your property, they will probably be quiet and still in the dark and will generally move on in the morning. If they are aggressive, please see next section and call us for assistance. Africanized Honey Bees - (popularly known as *"killer bees") are not something to take lightly. Looking just like our domestic honeybee, their behavior is quite different. They frequently attack people and animals who unwarily stray into the territory they defend around their nests. Unforeseen stinging attacks have sometimes resulted in serious injury or death. Though their venom is no more potent than that of our common European Honeybee, Africanized Bees respond in greater numbers and pursue intruders for greater distances. Also, disturbed colonies may remain agitated for as long as 24 hours. Any person or animal in the patrolled area is vulnerable. The nest itself need not be disturbed. Africanized Bees have responded ferociously to everyday occurrences such as vibrations generated by passing vehicles, power equipment and even foot traffic, many landscapers discover the bees when they do the yard work using mowers and blowers which create noise and vibrations. A little history on* Africanized honey bees (AHB) they were first discovered in Arizona when a colony, established in the roof of a Tucson house, stung a small dog to death on 6 June 1993. Experienced beekeepers and federal and state scientists who examined the remains of the colony suggested the colony was between 4 and 8 months old, placing its arrival into the state possibly as early as October, 1992. This was the second state in the U.S., after Texas, to confirm the natural spread from Mexico of this non-native species. By the end of 1993, the Arizona Department of Agriculture had recognized 57 AHB colonies from central and southern Arizona. Ten of the AHB colonies detected were involved in stinging incidents, none leading to human fatalities. By midyear 1995, 95 AHB colonies had been detected, 28 involving stinging incidents. Then the first human fatality from AHB in Arizona occurred on Oct. 6th. 1995, east of Phoenix, when an 88 year old woman was stung over 1000 times. A second fatality, a 66 year old man stung approximately 130 times, occurred only 12 days later, also near Phoenix. Elderly people are at greater risk from the bee venom. Africanized honey bees are the result of crossbreeding between European and African strains of honey bees. In the 1950's, Brazilian geneticists reasoned that bees from tropical Africa might be better suited for the climate of tropical South America than were the European honey bees, whose performance was disappointing. Unfortunately, Africanized bees were released from the breeding program before selective breeding was completed against the stronger defensive behavior which characterizes African bees. The AHB has taken to its new environment with vigor. They spread prodigiously since their release, with the leading edge advancing of up to 300 miles per year through the tropics of South and Central America. Meanwhile, but few colonies of AHB turned up in the U.S., accidentally transported on shipments of materials from South and Central America The first time that a swarm of AHB was verified to have entered the United States on its own was in Hidalgo, Texas in October, 1990. The bees have since spread north and west through Texas and northern Mexico and currently are known to be in the 4 states bordering Mexico. Many sharply different predictions have been made as to how far AHB will eventually spread into the US. Fortunately the initial rapid expansion seems to have slowed. USDA Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson: http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/ahb/index.html Abridged from an article in California Agriculture 51:22-25. For further reading: the complete version of this article appears at the university site of one of the co-authors, entomologist, Kirk Visscher. Bumble Bees Check back - Information Coming Soon



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