"KILLER BEES" arrived in the United States at Hidalgo, Texas in October, 1990. The migration front had advanced steadily several hundred miles per year since their accidental release from Brazil in 1956. Finally, the long-awaited and dreaded arrival of this dangerous stinging insect had come true amidst the media hype and even some scientists who proclaimed that it would never enter the United States.
The first "KILLER BEES" found in the U.S. were collected in a specially-designed survey swarm trap developed by the USDA and further refined by Steven C. Thoenes, Ph.D. of Tucson, AZ., the founder and President of BeeMaster, Inc. Dr. Thoenes shared a national technology transfer award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. The ceremony was in Washington, D.C. and the plaque was presented by Dr. Dean Plowman, then Adminstrator for the USDA-ARS.
"KILLER BEES" were discovered in Arizona in June 1993, when they attacked an elderly woman and her dog. The dog later died from the number of stings it received. Tragically, two elderly Arizona residents died as a result of attacks by these bees during October, 1995. Already, farm animals, livestock and dogs have been killed in other attacks by these highly defensive and dangerous honey bees.
During the period from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 1995, BeeMaster has removed over 1000 swarms from our customers' properties. Over 50% of these removed honey bee colonies in our swarm traps were positively identifed as "KILLER BEES" (the Africanized subspecies of honey bee).
To get more information regarding the Africanized honey bee, how to protect yourself against attacks and what to do in case you are attacked, we encourage you to visit the Global Entomology Agriculture Research Server (GEARS) AHB InfoPage. There are other bee-related resources you can access there as well.
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