Hybrid bees 99 percent Africanized
DAVID FLESHLER
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Beehives destroyed in Boca Raton and Cooper City contained the purest strains of Africanized honeybees yet found on Florida's east coast, indicating an increased threat from the aggressive, stinging insects.
The Florida Department of Agriculture analyzed bees from nests at a parking lot at Boca Raton City Hall and near a preschool on Stonebridge Parkway in Cooper City. The tests found the bees were 99.9 percent Africanized, a big increase from the 50 percent to 70 percent breeds usually found among hybrid bees in Florida.
The Africanized bees mate with European honeybees already in Florida, creating hybrids that display the aggressive behavior of the Africanized bees.
These purer strains are more likely to attack people and animals near their nests, said Jerry Hayes, a bee expert with the Florida Department of Agriculture.
"With a higher percentage being African, their behavior becomes more defensive and aggressive," he said. "I knew this would happen. I just didn't think it would happen this fast."
The Africanized strain was created in 1956 when a researcher brought African bees to Brazil and bred them with European honeybees. Released into the wild the next year, the hybrids began moving north, reaching Texas in 1990 and Florida in 1992. The bees dominate the local bees, breeding with them and taking over their territory.
Although their behavior differs, Africanized bees are the same species as European bees. Their sting is no more dangerous, but they are so aggressive in defending their nests that they're more likely to sting people or animals.
The Boca Raton bees were discovered Feb. 24 in a large tree by the parking lot north of City Hall, said John Warner, an entomologist who runs Shalom Pest Control, of Boca Raton.
This nest was one of five Africanized bee calls he has taken in Boca Raton since December, with the others occurring in Spanish River Park, the Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course, Hillsboro-El Rio Park and the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
The Cooper City bees were found March 7 in a hive dangling from a branch about 25 feet off the ground.
Warner removed the Boca Raton and Cooper City nests and sent samples of the bees to the state for analysis.
The state's scientists measured features such as wing length and the angles of veins in the wings. They fed this information into a computer, which concluded they were 99.9 percent Africanized. While this level of purity has been found in a nest on the west coast of Florida, it hasn't been found on the east coast, Hayes said.