'Back in the day', it was very rare to find wild honey bee nests built 'externally', meaning the nest is hanging from a tree limb or some other surface. Most honey bee nests were, and still are, found inside voids, such as tree holes, nesting boxes, structural wall voids and the like.
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| Winter Park External Honey Bee Nest in Tree |
So, several years ago, when we started encountering higher numbers of external nests as you see in the pic above, we knew our day of reckoning had arrived. You see, there are sub-species of honey bees that readily build external nests, and they are not the sub-species we have been farming for hundreds of years here in the U.S. No, these nests are usually built by the African Honey Bee. aka, Killer Bees,
Apis mellifera scutellata .
These numbers of nests heralded a new era in feral honey bee management, as these critters can exhibit drastically different behavior than their gentle European bee cousins. For instance, minor disturbances, such as a squirrel running across the tree branch, can cause these bees to fan out over hundreds of feet, looking for the perceived intruders. Once found, these guard bees can sting, leaving their stingers embedded within the victim. The stingers exude alarm pheromone, wafting into the air, providing a target path for up to 50,000 other nest-mates to quickly attack the now hapless victim. Immense pain, unconsciousness and death can be the quick result.
Please,
don't attempt a removal of bees, as they can be deadly, even
swarms have attacked us since Killer Bees are now here. We've had
fatalities occur in Florida because of improper stinging insect
removal techniques.
Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist (Univ of Fla'04); Registered Beekeeper (FL0010609M)
The Buzzkillers, LLC, Licensed (FL DACS JB144428), Insured & Certified(FL DACS JF136628) for your protection
