More Africanized honey bees found in Clark County

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 12:03 p.m.

The swarms were collected from trap sites near Davis Dam and Searchlight, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Last month, two swarms were discovered in the Laughlin area, on the Colorado River dividing Nevada from Arizona.

Paul Iverson, division administrator, said additional traps are now being placed near the area where the bees were found, and officials will continue to trace the movement of the bees in Nevada.

The latest movement of the bees may be due to climatic changes caused by El Nino, he said.

Iverson said last month that the Africanized bees will defend their hives more quickly and pursue intruders greater distances, but most serious stinging incidents have involved animals.

Africanized bees have been blamed for the deaths of more than 1,000 people since 1956, when a colony escaped from a laboratory in Brazil. But only three people in Texas have been killed by Africanized bees since they first entered the United States seven years ago.

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