Invasive “killer bees” found as warning issued to Alabama residents

Alabama officials in portions of the state have identified the presence of an invasive bee species posing a risk to both humans and animals.

The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) said in a release published Tuesday that feral swarms of Africanized honeybees, also known as “killer bees,” were discovered in Jackson and St. Clair counties. In a push to protect Alabama’s honeybees, local beekeepers worked to euthanize the killer bees once they were spotted, state officials said.

“ADAI is taking swift action to mitigate any risks associated with these invasive bees,” read the department release. “Traps are being set up within a five-mile radius of the detection sites to capture and identify any further presence of [Africanized honeybees].”

While the physical appearance of a killer bee does not differentiate much from the European honeybee, the ADAI said that the invasive species behaves differently from its pollinator cousins. Killer bees are more defensive than honeybees, for example, and will respond to threats in greater numbers. They will also pursue a threat “for over a mile,” while honeybees only chase a threat for a few hundred yards.

Killer bees, according to the ADAI, also “nest in any available cavity or in the open,” including water meter boxes, metal utility poles, concrete blocks, junk piles, holes in the ground or along house eaves. Local honeybees, conversely, nest in larger cavities and are always aboveground. Homes for honeybees often include a beekeeper’s hive, hollow trees, cavities in walls and tree limbs.

“The public is urged to stay vigilant and report any unusually aggressive bee behavior to ADAI,” the department said. “Africanized Honeybees can be highly defensive and pose a risk to humans and animals. It is important to avoid provoking any swarms and to seek professional assistance for bee removal.”

Newsweek reached out to the ADAI for additional information via email on Thursday.

According to the Smithsonian Institution, Africanized bees were first brought to Brazil in 1956 in hopes of crossbreeding them with local populations of honeybees. Over two dozen swarms, however, were accidentally released in 1957 and eventually produced hybrid populations with the European honeybee. The species moved northward and eventually reached southern Texas in 1990.

Populations of killer bees can typically be found in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, according to Clemson University’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. A few isolated colonies have been found in other states since they first reached the U.S. but those swarms have been destroyed, preventing the natural spread of the Africanized bees.