Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There is a hive of bees in a hole on the 305 cut.Im not a bee expert so i dont know if there africans or not.There on the right side if youre heading toward 190.It was 72 degres at 1:00 last night but all i saw was a pictigaster.

>> Im not a bee expert so i dont know if there africans or not.

I'm told they are identical to the untrained eye. However, there is one simple method to tell them apart. Calmly stick your hand into the hive. If you're stung less than 10 times, they're normal. If you're stung more than 100 times, they're Africanized. If you're stung between 10 and 100 times, the results are inconclusive -repeat the test.

In all seriousness, thanks for the warning. You should probably report the hive to the highway department

While you are at it, report the fire ants to the state. I'm not sure they are aware of the presence of fire ants or that fire ants are pretty well eradicating many herps on some areas.
Wehn is the state gooing to take fire ants seriously?

I'm not up-to-date on this, but there is some promising research on a parasitic fly that lays eggs in the fire ants. The mere presence of the flys causes the fire ants to panick and not forage. They've been releases in a fw pilot programs with good results. Unfortunately, TX DOTs reaction to fire ants would likely be chemicals that may do as much harm as the ants.

TX DOT would likely take the bees MUCH more seriously, since they present a safety hazard for TX DOT employees. The ants are an major environmental hazard, but rarely a serious safety concern.

i think those flies are being used in fla....if i'm nopt mistaken...they seem to be attracted to reptile eggs??.....YO...BILL LOVE ...IS THAT TRUE????

LOL I hope that is not true but it probably is. Fl. has to be the dumbest state in regards to what they will intentionally release. They like to try to fight things in ways that usually do more harm than good. I am sure some of stories about what they released on purpose are false (lovebugs) but some are true (mosquito fish, cane toads) and those true ones are scary. So I would not be surprised to hear that the flies were released and it is now found that they prefer dragon flies or humming bird or honey bees or something else beneficial instead of ants. LOL

Jason

Been there, done that. They highway dept. will not do squat. They said if they did that, they would be going 100 different places all the time. I reported a hive off of 90 close to Langtry once and they would not come out and check it.

Wayne

Beekeeper in that county? I have no first hand experience, but have heard that sometimes they will come and remove a hive (in hopes of adding it to their colony).

May or may not pan out at all, but worth a moment of thought anyway.

I'm surprised to hear that. Maybe they'll change their tune when one of the mower crews gets swarmed. Killer bees in the cuts aren't much of a threat to us, unless we're out in the daytime. But I bet they'd attack a mower or weed-eater operator with a vengeance.

Unless you shine your light in the hole...like on 277. They truly like that.

Oops. I guess that could get ugly. Have any herpers been swarmed?

I think someone posted last year, or the year before, about parking near that hole and getting acquainted with a few of the occupants. I've heard them buzzing day and night, but never had any problem.

>>>> Im not a bee expert so i dont know if there africans or not.
>>
>>I'm told they are identical to the untrained eye. However, there is one simple method to tell them apart. Calmly stick your hand into the hive. If you're stung less than 10 times, they're normal. If you're stung more than 100 times, they're Africanized. If you're stung between 10 and 100 times, the results are inconclusive -repeat the test.
>>
>>In all seriousness, thanks for the warning. You should probably report the hive to the highway department

That's funny...and they ARE impossible to tell apart externally. You have to look internal and compare relative sizes of organs, etc. You can get them tested, but it takes 24 hours. As we all know, people die from bee stings each year, but those have all been due to hypersensitivity to ANY bee sting. There has never been a known case of Africanized bees killing someone in Texas (excluding the possibility of someone sensitive getting stung by a couple, of course).

All those reports you see on the nes saying "Someone got killed by 'killer bees' 2 hours ago are B.S." It takes MUCH longer than that to just get the sample analyzed - much less to the correct lab....lol.

KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven