Re: [PyrNet-L] Fwd: Bees kill CA dog

[MagEBroD@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-06-07 13:30:25 EDT, you write:

<< 
 By MICHELLE WILLIAMS
 .c The Associated Press 
 SAN DIEGO (AP) - Africanized ``killer bees'' claimed their first 
 fatality in California since migrating to the United States seven years 
 ago: a dog tied to a tree where they were nesting. 
 The pit bull, named Killer, was in the backyard of an El Centro home 
 when it was stung by a swarm of the aggressive bees last week. 
 Genetic testing by the state Department of Food and Agriculture 
 confirmed that the stings were from the Africanized bees. 
 ``This is the first confirmed death of an animal or person by 
 Africanized bees in California,'' Myrlys L. Williams, spokeswoman for 
 the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said Tuesday. 
 ``Unfortunately, he just couldn't get away.'' 
 Bill Routhier, who manages the San Diego region for the state 
 agricultural department, said 50 percent of the wild colonies tested 
 this season in Imperial County were Africanized bees. 
 ``We've really seen an increase this year and they've extended their 
 range,'' he said. ``They've now reached the desert near the San 
 Bernadino Valley.'' 
 Africanized bees are inaccurately referred to as killer bees, he said. 
 Even though the mass stinging is terrifying and could be 
 life-threatening, it is rare. 
 The original African honey bees gained the ``killer'' nickname because 
 of their fierce defense of their nests. Hundreds will unrelentingly 
 pursue and sting trespassers. 
 Although the Africanized bees are more aggressive than their domestic 
 cousins, their sting is no more venomous. They look similar to European 
 honey bees, and can mate and reproduce, creating an Africanized hybrid. 
 The owners of the dog in Imperial County said the pet's head was covered 
 with the bees when a neighbor tried to rescue it, said Connie 
 Valenzuela, deputy agricultural commissioner for Imperial County. 
 The dog died within 45 minutes of the attack. The neighbor was stung 
 three times, but did not need medical treatment, she said. 
 The dog owners and neighbor were ``especially frantic'' about what 
 happened, Valenzuela said. She declined to release their identities. 
 An extermination company destroyed the nest and a county biologist 
 collected some of dead bees to send to the state agriculture laboratory 
 for analysis, which was completed Monday. 
 The death marks the sixth stinging incident in California since 
 Africanized honey bees were first detected in October 1994. Five of the 
 incidents were in Imperial County, an irrigated agricultural area in the 
 southeast corner of California near the Mexico border. The other was in 
 the adjacent county of Riverside, about 150 miles east of San Diego. In 
 all, eight people and two dogs have been stung. 
 
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