University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, July 20, 1988
9
Prof says killer bees minor threat to area
By Michael Shunk
Kansan staff writer
The African "killer" honeybee is late coming to the United States, but it won't be long before the swarms reach Texas, said Orley Taylor Jr., University of Kansas entomologist
Taylor, who has been studying the bees since 1974, has predicted that the bees will arrive in southern Texas by November of next year at the earliest. He had predicted that they would arrive this year.
The African honeybee is a highly aggressive species known for attacks on humans and livestock. Specimens were first brought to South America in 1966 by beekeepers who used them for honey production.
Since the bees escaped into the wild in South America, they have been progressing gradually northward.
Although the bees are not moving as fast as Taylor expected, he said they were still making considerable progress, continuing to increase in population.
"They are just like any other organism in that they are spreading to fill an area that is suitable to it," he said. "They are about 100 to 150 miles short of reaching a broad, open area, almost like a plain, that will probably cause them to move faster."
In Venezuela, at least 70 people have died from attacks by African honeybees between 1978 and 1981. However, Taylor said, the bees generally were not dangerous except in large, well-established colonies.
He said that there had been few substantial reports of bee attacks in Mexico, which is where the bees now are spreading. But it could possibly get worse as the population grows.
"It takes about two years for the population to build up before it will have a great impact on the area," he said.
Taylor has been helping to alleviate the bee problem in Mexico by
supplying its government with synthetic pheromone lures to use as bait in hives designed to destroy the bees. But he said that at least 60 percent of the swarms must be killed to have an impact on the wild population.
He said that the best solution to the bee problem was to cross-breed them with a less aggressive bee species, such as the European variety.
"The basic thing that we have to do is to find a way of Europeanizing the fertile population of African bees," he said.
"I've had a time when I've been stung 100 times in an hour and a half," he said. "I felt a little dizzy after that. Another time I was stung 40 times in about 20 seconds. I got out of that by just running like help. But I never felt better. I had just made some tactical mistakes while I was handling them."
Taylor's firsthand experience with African honey bees has resulted in a successful program.
At its worst, Taylor said that the arrival of the bees would not amount to more than a minor health problem. But he added that they could easily be over-sensitized.
"Some of the incidents and attacks could be very spectacular and create a lot of headlines," he said.
In spite of the arrival of the bees in Texas next year, Kansans will have little to fear from them. Taylor said that the bees probably would not make it as far north as Lawrence because of the colder climate here.
"They don't have the ability to survive the long winters up here," he
Taylor did note, however, the posi-
bility that African bees would be
mixed with other honeybees and be
carrying them for honey producers.
"We may get a few hybrid colonies, but we will probably be able to get rid of them easily," he said.
Indiana teacher literally buying class's attention
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Dick Howe paid out nearly $60 and gave a lesson in human nature to students in his remedial math class this summer.
The Associated Press
In return, he got his students' attention, and that was worth every penny, said Howe, a teacher at Southside Elementary School. "I thought. Why not pay them?
"at Outside Library School"
"I thought, 'Why not pay them?'
I'm getting paid to be here, so why not them?" he said.
The students were told that they would be paid up to 20 cents a day, depending on attendance, behavior and performance.
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