MENACE OF AFRICANISED BEES

Dec 17, 2017 Consumer Concerns, Features / Columnists

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By PAT DIAL

Every month, on the average, one or two persons die from attacks by Africanised bees and scores of others suffer stings in greater or lesser degree. Within the last four weeks, for example, a farmer in Berbice was attacked and died in the field that he was ploughing and on East Coast Demerara, a security guard was attacked and killed while he was going to work.
These bees often build their nests in schools or near school compounds and cause great fear and discomfiture among students and teachers. At the beginning of this month, there was a report of an Africanised bee colony at the Aurora Secondary School in Essequibo.
Classes had to be suspended several times during the term to protect the children. Sometimes, these bees swarm into areas they were never before seen and attacked unprepared and unsuspecting people. In one such incident three years ago, a baby was stung to death.
Two generations ago, Africanised bees were unknown in Guyana. In the past, the bees which were cultivated in hives were mostly capilanos and they also lived in the wild. These bees were comparatively mild and were never as persistently aggressive as the Africanised.
Africanised bees were first bred in Brazil: Brazilian scientists, in their efforts to develop a strain of bees which were greater honey producers, crossed African and European strains. Some of these bees escaped and built their nests in the Brazilian jungles, spreading from there all over South America. The bees were good honey producers but they were like very fierce and aggressive wasps or marabuntas and their stings seemed to be more poisonous than Western bees.
They also seem to multiply at a faster rate. Some of their colonies contained tens of thousands of bees. These bees have now overtaken the whole of the Guyana territory.
Livestock and other animals also suffer attacks from these bees. Early in the year, it was reported that four goats belonging to an East Coast Demerara farmer were killed by these bees and dogs regularly die from attacks by these bees.
In the towns, they tend to build their nests in disused septic tanks, disused containers, barrels or any crevice they could find near the roof of houses. The incipient nests are never discovered until they become threatening. One sign of knowing that the bees are in a vicinity is that a few of them would be seen flying around lighted bulbs.
If they are just beginning to build a nest with very, very few bees, one may risk exterminating them with a very powerful aerosol insecticide like Baygon but once they become more numerous and have established a nest, only a professional exterminator should deal with them.
Indeed, most people are afraid to go near a nest and this overwhelming fear has prevented persons from rescuing other persons who have been attacked. The security guard mentioned above was lying on the roadside but the passersby were afraid to try to help him.
There is very little one could do to help one’s self if attacked by these bees. However, the following precautions may be useful:-
If one is under attack, run away as fast as possible and take shelter in a house or car, closing the windows as quickly as possible. The bees usually pursue to about 300 feet but there are instances where they have gone to a quarter of a mile.
While running away, cover your face with any cloth or net or mesh or even your hands since the bees go for the face and when they sting around the eyes, you would be unable to see. It is better to cover your face with your shirt since bites on the torso are less immediately dangerous than bites on the face.
Dark colours, especially black, attract bees. Lighter colours such as light cream or very light green do not attract them as much. Accordingly, if you go out into areas where there may be bees, wear light-coloured clothing.
If you are under attack, do not try to smother them away, since the more bodily movement you have, the more irritated the bees become. On the other hand, do not try to be immobile or “freeze” because they will attack you as an easy target.
Going into any body of water like a canal or lake is really of little help since the Africanised bees would remain around for hours waiting to attack. As soon as you raise your head out of the water, they will attack.
As soon as you are able, use a credit card or any piece of stiff plastic or cardboard to press the sting out of your skin. This will prevent the venom from being absorbed into the blood. Death from bee stings is due to scores of stings dissipating their venom or poison in the body.
The Ministry of Agriculture once used to offer a free service to the community to exterminate these killer bees from homes, yards and agricultural fields. This protection offered to the community by the Ministry was universally appreciated,
We are therefore urging that the Ministry of Agriculture to resuscitate this service. The bee extermination personnel could be attached to the Honey Industry Programme of the Ministry where they could be engaged in other work of the unit. The Guyana Consumers Association has written the Ministry recommending the re-establishment of the Africanised bee extermination unit.

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