HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Comment Dr. Bob Sjogren (pronounced: sho-gren), head of Vector Control
(714) 971-2421
at 3 PM this afternoon,there was a confirmation that africanized honey bees have been found in
Seal Beach.
Vector control does surveillance in OC
samples were taken on 3/1/99
2 of 24 that were positive
SY Nursery and College Park Drive
next to Edison park
the samples were collected from flowers in the area
they were individual-like 6 bees from each area
there was not a swarm of bees present
this merely indicates that this type of bee has reached Orange Co
it will take a number of years before the bees become completely africanized
a bee swarm may come across the San Gabriel River
but it will likely be a year or more before a swarm will originate from here
however,there could be a swarm as early as this spring or summer
when the bees become africanized,they take over the docile bees
they replace the docile queen with an africanized queen
process takes 6 weeks
if there are any hobby beekeepers in SB
they should be managed so that they don't become sources of stinging bees
the Orange Co Board of Supervisors has a response plan
under this plan,if citizens should see a bee swarm that they are concerned about,
they should call a private pest control company in the yellow pages
they will remove the bees for a fee
why doesn't the county come out and do that?
because of prop 218,gov't doesn't have the$
they are doing the surveillance;they do have an education plan
Vector Control focus on pests that transmit diseases, such as mosquitoes,rats, other vermin
there is no off-the- shelf control program that will selectively control africanized bees
1. People need to be aware of the bees in the area
when africanized bees swarm,they are not aggressive for the first 3-5 days after they take
up residence in a new area,as they are filled with honey and are docile.
However, when the queen starts laying eggs,then they become defensive of the hive
so people need to do heads up
2. Watch for the"be line": bees will go back and forth a certain path to the hive.
Watch for bees flying back and forth in the same direction,that indicates that there is
something near by.
3. If people should be stung,they should pull their shirt over their head and run into a car or a
house, something as close as possible; don't try to out run them. The bees attack around
the head; they don't like people's breath-the carbon dioxide threatens them -
the head is what they will attack- so you need to get away from them as quickly as
possible.