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A killer bee's best friend

Contradicting the state, an exterminator says Africanized bees can be of use to us.

By CRISTINA SILVA , Times Staff Writer
Published October 31, 2007

GULFPORT -- A south Pinellas bug exterminator is on a one-man campaign to save the state's wild bees.

Jeff McChesney of Bug Man Termite and Pest Control Services and Supplies in Gulfport said the state is overreacting to a recent influx of Africanized bees, so-called killer bees because of the horrific death they can cause.

So McChesney has set out to prove to others that the bees can be used to pollinate crops and make honey. In recent weeks, he has flooded bee enthusiast Web sites with offers to move the wild bees his customers find on their properties.

"Africanized bees can be tended to successfully," McChesney said in a recent interview. "They are a heartier bee. They are a better bee."

His stance directly opposes that of the state Department of Agriculture, which has called for the extermination of all wild bees.

The Africanized breed was first reported in Tampa in 2005. State officials estimate that the bees, which are known to invade European honeybee hives and kill their queens, now make up more than 80 percent of all wild bees.

Jerry Hayes, chief apiarist for the Department of Agriculture, warned that domesticating Africanized bees is not as easy as some might think.

All honeybees sting when their nest is threatened by invaders, but Africanized bees defend their nests in greater numbers and for longer distances than the European honeybees most common in the United States.

While other nations, including Brazil, have used the species to pollinate crops for decades, the breed of Africanized bees in the United States is excessively aggressive, Hayes said. Most recently, a Texas man was killed in September after more than 1,000 bees stung him. No Africanized bee-related deaths have been reported in Florida.

"It is a good thing to have bees, but we need to decide what kind of bees do we want?" Hayes said. "How many fatalities do we want in Florida? That's basically what it comes down to."

The debate over Africanized bees will be discussed at the Florida state beekeepers association's annual convention in Winter Haven this weekend.

Already, some beekeepers have answered McChesney's call with open arms. Last year, an unknown illness wiped out more than half of the nation's domesticated beehives. Since then, beekeepers have spent thousands rebuilding their hives.

"People need those bees to have food in their stomach," McChesney said. "Our African bees here can actually go and help people who have lost a half a million dollars this year and do not know what to do next year. The bees that the state wants to kill can help people."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

More on wild bees

More on  Africanized bees.

More on bee relocation.

[Last modified October 30, 2007, 14:06:48]