Small Town News

Honeybees valuable, but be careful

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Honeybees are an important part of the natural landscape and valuable to the Texas economy. The beekeeping industry in Texas generates an estimated $10.4 million annually. Agricultural crops pollinated by bees have a value of $40 billion. Unfortunately, honeybees become unwelcome guests when they nest around homes, schools and businesses. The presence of the Africanized honeybee in most Texas counties makes the risk of encountering bees even greater. People should know how to protect their homes and businesses from bee infestation.

The honeybee. Apis mellif-era Linnaeus, is a social insect that lives in colonies. Each bee colony contains one fertile queen, drone bees and worker bees. The queen is the only female that can lay fertilized eggs and she can live 2 to 5 years. The drones are male bees. Their function is to mate with new queens. Drones can't sting. The number of drones is highest in the spring and summer. Most bees in a colony are workers. Workers are infertile females. They perform most of the functions bees are know for, such as making honey and defending the colony. There may be as many as 60,000 workers in a healthy, productive colony. The average number is 30,00.

Africanized and European bees are so closely related that it is almost impossible to tell them apart except with genetic analysis or laboratory measurements. However, their behavior is very different.

Africanized bees are more sensitive to nest disturbance. When disturbed (by activity near the colony, vibrations from lawn equipment, etc.), established honeybee colonies may respond by attacking anything within their territory. This is true for both Africanized and European bees. However, Africanized bees respond more quickly, send more bees from the colony to drive the intruder away and pursue intruders farther than European bees do.

The venom of Africanized and European bees is chemically identical, but Africanized bees are a greater threat because they are more likely to sting in greater numbers. Children are more susceptible to the venom than adults.

Honeybees are not truly aggressive - that is, bees do not search for someone or something to attack. But like social wasps, honeybees are highly defensive and will attack anything that seems to threaten the colony. You can lessen your risk of a bad experience with bees by learning more about their behavior.

It is common to see honeybees foraging for food and water around homes and other structures. Foraging bees are away from the colony and are not likely to sting because they have nothing to defend. Bees visiting flowers and other food sources should be left undisturbed.

Many people have never encountered bee swarms even though they occur every year. With literally thousands of bees in the air, swarms may appear dangerous. In fact, they post little threat. Eventually the swann will land and remain clustered in one place for a few hours or several days. During that time, scout bees are looking for a suitable nesting site. Once the scouts find a new site and communicate its location to the swarm,

the bees will move on to their new home.

If a swarm lands in a remote site, it should be left alone. The swarm does not contain stored food or immature bees so the bees have nothing to defend and are unlikely to sting.

Swarms that land near buildings or high traffic areas should be managed. Bees may try to nest in wall voids or floors of buildings if they can gain entry. Professional and hobby beekeepers are often unwilling to collect swarms because of the possibility of introducing diseases, mites or Africanized bees into their own colonies. If no one can be found to remove a swarm near a building or in a high traffic area, the swarm may need to be destroyed.

The most important step is to prevent honeybees from entering a building. Block all holes where pipes and wiring enter, cracks in window framing, know holes in wood siding, weep holes in bricks, and cracks where wood and brick join. Most of the holes can be filled with caulking, but holes necessary for airflow should be blocked with wire screen. The screen mesh should be less than 1/8 inch thick. Chimneys should be properly capped. Removing a honeybee nest can easily cost hundreds of dollars, so prevention is the best solution.

Honeybees that have moved into a structure should be destroyed as quickly as possible. The longer you delay, the more difficult the job is.

IMPORTANT DATES:

August 2- 4 - 56th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course - Texas A&M University - College Station for more information go to http://animalscience.tamu.edu/ansc/BC SC/index.htm1

August 5 - Henderson County Master Gardener's Summer Series of Free Workshops - Sustainable Landscaping - East Texas Arboretum Women's Bldg. -Athens - 6:30 p.m.

Rick Hirsch is the Henderson Count}' Extension Agent -Agriculture for Texas Cooperative Extension. Visit our web page at http://hender-son-co.tamu.edu.



Copyright 2010 The Malakoff News, Malakoff, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Malakoff News Malakoff, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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