ecofriend.org

After Katrina, Now New Orleans residents face 'Killer Bee' attacks

monday jan 8 2007 9

Not yet recovered from the lashes of the Hurricane Katrina, the residents of flood-damaged St. Bernard Parish is now facing another concernthe killer bees! The region is infested with aggressive Africanized honey bees. These killer bees hybrids with the aggressive African strain, the state agriculture department confirmed.

According to Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom, this infestation is an isolated find in the New Orleans area so far. Jimmy Dunkley, the department’s coordinator of nursery and apiary programs believe that the bees are probably descendants of stowaways who arrived in New Orleans on a ship.

To bring the infestation under control, agriculturalists set traps around a half-mile radius of a storm-wrecked home, the aggressive bees first drove away contractors who were hired to tear the house down followed by making the beekeepers called in to catch them to skip.

Though, finally mosquito workers killed the bees, the traps need to confirm if more Africanized bees are lurking in the area, before declaring it safe as their intense attacks can be fatal.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Today's Top Articles:

Scroll to Top