More Africanized bees have been heading to Fla.

By Angeeneh Adamian, Reporter
Last Updated: Sunday, August 8, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG —
After a weekend killer bee attack, a beekeeper says Florida may be at the beginning of a dangerous trend.

Rodney Tyoe is a beekeeper who runs his own bee removal business.

On Saturday, Tyoe responded to the scene of a bee attack after more than 50,000 bees attacked three landscapers and sent them to the hospital.

“This is a typical one where they got themselves in over their head thinking they had the bees killed out,” Tyoe said. “They thought they had it under control.”

Tyoe says the bees were no ordinary honey bees like the ones he keeps in his backyard. He says they’re Africanized killer bees, which are quick to swarm and very aggressive.

According to Tyoe, this type of bee is relatively new to Florida after migrating from Brazil in the early 90s.

The bees have only been in Florida for five years, but now they’re keeping Tyoe busy. Last week he responded to another hive in Safety Harbor.

“They were just pouring out of there,” he said of a beehive. “That was last Monday and to have this thing here three blocks away.”

Tyoe says part of the reason the tree trimmers in the most recent bee incident may have been attacked was the noise from their chainsaws.

He says lawn mowers and chainsaws have been known to provoke the bees.

And after 52 years of working with insects, he says he’s learned one thing.

“The biggest thing for anybody is if you get stung, don’t stand there and swat,” Tyoe said. “Run! Get out of there now.”

Tyoe says that even just one bee sting could have killed a tree trimmer, but fortunately, none of them were allergic.

The only way to tell an Africanized bee from a honey bee is after it stings.

Africanized bees tend to sting and release a chemical that causes more of them to attack, whereas honey bees only sting once and do not release anything under the skin.