Okay, so I was talking to a friend of mine today about killer bee movies. We're both from the area and have lived in Virginia for almost 50 years. During our conversation, he mentioned that there have been at least two occassions where the authorities thought killer bees had made it as far as Northern VA. I couldn't find anything online about this and it would be hard to tell without a further examination because killer bees look like regular honey bees, it's their behavior that is the biggest distinction.

Does anyone know if there have been killer bee sightings/reports in Northern VA or how about VA as a whole?

No.

Yes.

Maybe.

Yes but the media never reported on it

The farthest north they've been found is southern Tennessee (2012). No where near VA (yet).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee

Yes, here is the news article on a killer bee attack from 2000.....


`Killer bees' attack man in Virginia
By Dan Eggen
The Washington Post
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000721&slug=4032773

Killer bees, the domestic honeybee's angry cousins, have invaded Virginia.

A renegade swarm of the species, formally known as Africanized bees, was responsible for an attack in southwest Virginia this month that killed a goat and sent four people to the hospital, according to scientists with the federal government and Virginia Tech.

Researchers believe that the bees, more common in Texas and the Southwest, hopped a train or truck before ending up near Low Moor, Va., where they commandeered a native beehive and then angrily defended it. It was the first time the bees had been found in Virginia.

Officials believe they eliminated the Africanized bees by dousing the hive with gasoline, and they insist there is little chance the species still poses a threat.

But scientists are planning to set baited hives for remaining invaders - just in case.

"Our assumption is that it was an isolated swarm and the problem was taken care of," said Keith Tignor, a Virginia Tech entomologist who is soon to become the state's chief apiarist, or beekeeper. "It was much too great a distance for them to fly here. They were probably transported here by accident."

The finding by researchers at the Department of Agriculture lab in Beltsville, Md., came as a surprise to Virginia scientists, who had doubted that Africanized bees could be in the area. The species is slightly smaller than the European honeybee common to North America, but the differences can be confirmed only by lab analysis.

The Downey family, on the other hand, was not surprised at all.

"My husband kind of suspected that's what they were," said Nannie Downey, whose husband, James, was stung more than 35 times. "He hadn't seen anything like that before. . . . We think they're gone, and we hope they don't come back."

Africanized bees, descended from African bees, have been migrating north since they were released accidentally from a Brazilian laboratory in 1957. They crossed into Texas about 10 years ago and have invaded Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California.

The bees are territorial and aggressive, and are known for their habit of swarming and attacking a victim repeatedly. The insects can become agitated by vibrations from 100 feet away and can pursue a victim for more than a quarter-mile.

Experts advise people to run as fast as possible if confronted with a killer-bee swarm, but not to try escaping by jumping in water; the bees are known to wait until you surface to attack again.

Nonetheless, experts argue that killer bees have an unwarranted reputation and have been responsible for fewer than 10 deaths since their arrival in the United States.

"They will not normally become aggressive toward the individual around them, but they will be very protective of their nest, just like we would be protective of our home," Tignor said.

The Swarm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Okay, so I was talking to a friend of mine today
> about killer bee movies.

That 70's movie called the Swarm was probably the best killer bee movie ever made.
Attachments:

Origins

African honey bees were imported to Brazil in 1956. The Smithsonian indicates the bees were thought to increase honey production in the South American nation. A year later, 26 African queen bees along with European honey bees escaped from an experimental colony and began interbreeding. Africanized honey bees were then created as a hybrid species.

Columbia University states European honey bees didn't survive South America's tropical climates very well. Hence, the African bees were brought to Brazil to try to survive. The new species did all too well. The new bees have since moved north into Central America, Mexico and the United States.

Since they were introduced in Brazil, Africanized bees have killed over 1,000 humans. Africanized bees are more aggressive and will sting victims 10 times more than more docile European bees.



In the U.S.

The University of California Riverside reveals Africanized bees were first spotted in the U.S. in southern Texas in 1990. The aggressive species then spread to Arizona and New Mexico in 1993 and then California in 1994. As of 2011, a Department of Agriculture map reveals counties in Nevada, southern Utah, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida also have Africanized bees.

Medua Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes but the media never reported on it


Thanks OBAMA and the LIBERAL media bias.

In case you havent noticed most of the bees have been eliminated. I havent seen any honeybees in NOVA this year. Thank you Monsanto.

liberal media bias Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Medua Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes but the media never reported on it
>
>
> Thanks OBAMA and the LIBERAL media bias.

The media did report on it, see the article above?

Actually I see honey bees all the time in the slightly higher elevation. For some reason they don't hang out around here.

What about the killer ants? Isn't there a similar pending invasion from some species of ant? (fire ants, bullet ants, army ants, Argentine ants, etc.) Supposedly the invasive ants and bees were both moving north and expected to arrive in Virginia eventually.

Aardvark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What about the killer ants? Isn't there a similar
> pending invasion from some species of ant? (fire
> ants, bullet ants, army ants, Argentine ants,
> etc.) Supposedly the invasive ants and bees were
> both moving north and expected to arrive in
> Virginia eventually.

Good point, we should start a new thread on that. Great Idea!