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cattle in Rappahannock County ; would be sharply curtailed if not de- ‘ stroyed. As man destroys the natu- i ral wild habitat of other pollinators 1 in nature such as butterflies, moths, 1 non-honey bees, etc., it is inevitable that man will become even more dependent on honeybees, thus the i growing alarm over the new “killer bee” invaders on the way to this area ' from South America. <
Local beekeepers are now taking a new long range look at the future of beekeeping. What is causing the alarm? In 1957 several swarms of African “killer bees’ were acciden- ' tally released in Brazil where their habits were being studied. They have been working and stinging their way northward ever since at the rate of about 500 miles per year.
These particular honeybees are unusually aggressive and too easily aroused to anger. When this happens they are known to attack viciously every living thing within a quarter of a mile of their colony, both animal and human. When these African-type bees cross-breed with the milder and more even-tempered Italian bees in this hemisphere the offspring unfortunately take on the worst characteristics of the so-called “killer bees.”
Even experts have great difficulty telling the “killer” bees from our present Italian honeybees. It will probably not be until the bad tempers and a new aggressiveness of a local swarm become self-evident that a beekeeper of the future will know that his hives are being invaded. So far the only remedy for the “killer bee” threat is to destroy the invaders.
To date, scientists have found no way to stop or slow down the northward march of the “killer bees.” It had been hoped that these invading bees would lose some, if not all, of their aggressiveness as they moved into cooler climates but so far this has not been the case. If the predicted schedule of advance is correct the “killer bee” types Should arrive in Virginia sometime after the year 2000.
They are expected to enter the country through Texas and California. Several colonies of “killer bees” have already been discovered and destroyed in California. It was thought they came in an oil piping imported from Brazil.
Honeybees at best are unpredictable arid full of surprises. Honeybees will accept man. a«ql, his ihiye, boxes only so long as it suits the needs for survival of. each colpny.; ^Yhen.;. a swarm of bees, or a part of as Warm, decide, for any of a myriad of reasons, to leave a hive there is nothing a beekeeper can do to stop the departure.
Not everyone can be or wants to be a beekeeper. The tiny but pesky sting will always keep the membership of this strange class of people at a proper number. But for
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