Killer Bees in Tennessee?    By Earle Farrell 6/18/13

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (FOX13) -

European honey bees are extremely important to our food crops. Without them this country would see a dramatic drop in our food production, not to mention, a loss of honey. 

But there is another bee out there called the Africanized bee that is spreading across the southern United States. It's also known as Killer Bees because they have been known to kill both humans and animals.


Bob Dicky is a bee keeper living near Horn Lake, Ms. He says, "if you walked over there right now and bumped one of these hives real hard you're going to have a lot of bees on you. Now they are not like the killer bees which are very aggressive. You can't tell the difference, I have seen pictures, they are same size as my bees, look just like my bees, but they are Africanized…but they are very very aggressive." 

With European honey bees you can always run from them and if you can find a lake you can jump in and once you go under the water they would fly back to their hive and leave you alone. With a Killer Bee, it's a different story; they don't give up the chase. You can jump in a lake, but they will follow you and when you come up to get a breath of air, they fly into your mouth. Nasty! 

Bob Dicky's son Carey started helping his dad with his bees about a year ago, because, he was afraid of bees and wanted to overcome his fear by learning more about them. 

Carey Dicky says, "When you put a bee keeper suit on and you first lift the hive and pull your first comb of honey, the frame bees are hitting you in the face and your first instinct is to swipe at them. You don't want to do that!  That is why they are attacking, they are being aggressive. Be gentle, calm and nobody gets hurt because the bees sense fear." 

It will be bee keepers like Bob Dicky and his son who will more than likely be the people who will save us from the Killer Bees. They are doing it now in places were the killer bees have been found. They simply replace the killer bee queen with a more docile queen bee and within a few short weeks all of the aggressive bees die off naturally and are replaced by the friendlier European bee. 

But keep in mind even the good bees can put the hurt on you so leave it to the bee keepers to do the bee keeping and just remember they can smell the fear on you.

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