Militant Bees

[aggienaut]

Tustin Naval Air Station, CA -- Members of the 63rd Regional Readiness Command stationed at the old Tustin Naval Air Station recently found themselves caught unready when africanized honeybee forces invaded their base and fortified positions in two corners. The garrison found itself unable to repel the incursion and eventually called for reinforcements.
   Thats where I come in.

   Today for the first time I came across bees which I would classify as Africanized. The militant insects had taken up camp inside an ammunition box in one corner and a large freight container in another.

   Now the thing with africanized bees, which is kind of obvious in retrospect, is that since they are the same species as other honeybees, they can and do interbreed. "Africanized" ("killer") honeybees were introduced to the Americas in 1956 when an experiment went awry and 26 African queen bees were released in Brazil. All africanized bees in the Americas are descended from these initial 26 queens. And since they've been interbreeding the entire time from Brazil to here, they're not really all that different.
   Certain research indicates that 70% of the feral bees in Orange County are to some degree "Africanized." A fact that can scare the bajeezes out of some people, but in reality its pretty much a moot point. The practical affect is that sometimes certain colonies will have retained the genetic directives to defend their colony with the enthusiasm attributed to "Africanized bees."


   Today I was standing about fifteen feet from the ammunition box the bees had inhabited. Usually I'm fine that far away so I was just wearing my usual t-shirt & pants. Shortly after Bob started gassing the bees however I suddenly had half a dozen in my hair. Before I could get a veil on I got three stings. A few minutes later when I walked to where our on-site contact was watching 200 yards away to ask him a question, bees followed me the whole way (which is extremely unusual).

   At the container it was decided they'd use a forklift to lift the container so we could remove the comb from underneath. So this sergeant drives up this massive forklift that kind of reminds me of a mastadon. He places the forks right on top of the container and fastens them to the container with chains, and then lifts the container.
   As we watch he lifts the container, but after about a minute the chains snap and the container slams down.
   Next he puts the forks under the container and lifts it up that way, and then places blocks of wood under it as an added precaution. We're still a bit wary but we set about removing the honey as fast as possible. The colony was fairly big and totally loaded with honey.



Picture of the Day

The abovementioned colony under a conex box.

In the foreground is some sort of insecticide bomb the military unsuccessfully employed to defeat the bees.