Tucson Bee Removal Services
Tens Of Thousands Of Killer Bees Attacked A Religious Gathering In Arizona
All the way back in 1956, a scientist researching bee pollinators in Brazil had decided to import African honey bees to his lab as opposed to European honey bees. This researcher preferred the African variety because they produce more honey than the European variety. However, the researcher quickly realized that the aggressiveness exhibited by the African honey bee could make them difficult to manage for future beekeepers, so he decided to breed the aggressive African honey bees with a more docile breed of honey bees. Unfortunately for the researcher, and the many future victims of Africanized bee attacks, several of the aggressive African bees escaped quarantine and migrated to North America, where they still exist today. As the African bees migrated north, they mated with other bee species, but the African bees still retained their aggressive nature. This hybrid became known as “africanized honey bees” and since the 1960s, these bees have been causing serious problems in the United States, especially in the southwest region. For example, two years ago in Phoenix, Arizona, a swarm of twenty thousand bees escaped from a hive and attacked several people attending religious services at a mosque. The attack saw fifteen people stung by the dangerous bees, one of whom was hospitalized due to his injuries.
When the people attending the religious services noticed thousands of bees descending upon them, they scattered in a panic. Once an ambulance arrived, several people were evacuated by the authorities. The many people being attacked were each escorted to ambulances with blankets covering their bodies in order to prevent stings. Luckily, once all of the sting victims arrived at the hospital, they were quickly judged to be in stable condition, and nobody had been seriously hurt in the attack. In response to the attack, authorities located the nearby hive and sprayed it with heavy foam in order to pacify the angry Africanized honey bees.
Have you, or anyone you know, ever sustained a sting from an Africanized honey bee? Have you ever spotted a swarm of Africanized honey bees?
