Colonized: Africanized bees have set up permanent residence here

Jace Radke and Mary Manning

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

State officials and experts are warning people that Africanized bees, often called "killer" bees because of their ferocious attacks, are now a permanent part of Southern Nevada.

"It takes about two to four years for Africanized bees to get established in an area, and that's about how long it has been since they first began arriving in Southern Nevada," said Gina Stoneking, bee coordinator for the state Department of Agriculture.

Africanized bees began migrating from South America in the 1950s. They look like regular European honey bees, but are more defensive and easily startled, which sometimes results in attacks.

The Department of Agriculture is recommending that Southern Nevadans consider all bees Africanized as a safety precaution, said Paul Iverson, an official with the Department of Agriculture.

"The Africanized bee looks identical to any other bee," Iverson said. "You need a microscope to tell them apart, so we're treating all bees as if they are Africanized. That doesn't mean that all bees in Southern Nevada are Africanized."

The majority of bees in Clark County are believed to be Africanized, but there hasn't been a dramatic increase in the numbers of the bees from last year to this year, Stoneking said.

A swarm of hundreds of bees was discovered in a tree about 100 feet from Kit Carson Elementary School at Alexander Street and D Street last week, Iverson said. At least three children reported being stung, Iverson said.

Rodney Mehring of Bee Master of Las Vegas was contracted to destroy the bees at the school.

A 77-year-old woman was stung more than 500 times near Maryland Parkway and U.S. 95 on March 27, 2001, but she survived. A Las Vegas man, 79, was stung by more than 30 Africanized bees while trying to remove a nest on a wood fence in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley in February 2000.

Normally Bee Master receives fewer than 100 calls a month, Mehring said. Since March he has logged between 110 and 150 calls each month, and expects more residents to call as the weather warms up.

Stoneking said that bees are more active when flowers are blooming.

"There's not really a busy season, it's kind of an ebb and flow," Stoneking said. "Africanized bees are like scorpions and rattlesnakes. People just need to realize that they are out there and use some caution."

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said that he has been getting more and more calls for information on Africanized bees over the last two weeks.

"If someone is being attacked, then we want them to call 911, but if they notice bees around their home they should call a professional exterminator," Szymanski said. "The Las Vegas Fire Department does not exterminate bees."

Mehring advises homeowners to call a professional if bees swarm.

"Amateur splash-and-dash bee removal is dangerous, and trips to the emergency room are far more expensive than an experienced professional bee removal specialist," Mehring said.

A bee swarm looks like a brown mass hanging in a tree or nestled in an object such as a sprinkler box or barbecue pit. A single swarm can contain up to 10,000 bees.

For more information on Africanized bees, residents can call the Las Vegas Fire Department's information line at (702) 229-2000, which will be operating by the end of the week. Residents can also get information online at www.lvalert.com