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May 2, 2004Don't believe the buzz, bees are not killers
Record-Eagle/Lara Neel James and Keith Hilbert check hives on their family's bee farm in Acme. The Hilberts have about 1,500 hives. Hybridized insects have more aggressive characteristicsByRecord-Eagle staff writer ACME - There's a buzz on the street: State and area apiarists are using hybridized breeds of disease-resistant bees that are more aggressive than their predecessors. Larry Hilbert, the Grand Traverse district representative for the Michigan Beekeepers Association, said a more aggressive strain of hybridized bees were shipped to his Acme operation last year from a southern United States distributor. Hilbert, who returned from Florida this week with another batch of bees, said there's a growing concern across the U.S. and Michigan about hybridized bees with more aggressive characteristics. But he cautioned that the bees are not the infamous Africanized bees, better known as "killer bees," that have claimed lives and caused a 145-county quarantine in Texas last year. "Technically, (area farmers) aren't getting Africanized bees, but what is called a hybridized bee. These bees that are crossed are more aggressive than a regular honeybee, but far from an Africanized bee," he said. "We did get some more aggressive bees last year." Commercial honey producers in Michigan sold more than 5 million pounds of honey in 2000, ranking the state ninth in the nation. Bees not only produce a honey of a crop, they're also instrumental in pollinating the region's fruit orchards. Hilbert said he marks and sets aside hybridized bee hives in hopes that new, calmer queens can replace the more aggressive ones and calm down the hybridized hives, which tend to be more persistent when put on the defensive. "If the hive is disturbed, there will be more coming after you with the hybridized bees," said Hilbert. "They have a tendency to keep coming after you and following you around more so than the honeybees." Mike Hansen, the state Department of Agriculture's resident bee expert, said mite attacks on honeybees in the late 1980s and early '90s decimated the population and caused beekeepers to look to other strains that could better tolerate the tiny pests. But replacement strains are much more aggressive, he said. "We are finding that some of the traits of bees where they get better disease control unfortunately also get a little bit more aggression," he said. Hansen said there are a number of Michigan beekeepers who migrate their bees to southern states, mostly to Florida and Georgia, in the winter before bringing them back to the area, ready to help pollinate orchards. In 1993, the state lifted a transportation ban, allowing beekeepers to bring their bees back and forth freely across the state's borders. But Hansen said Florida inspects all interstate bees annually and sends him records, even though Michigan law doesn't require it. "Beekeepers found that if they went to southern states, they could build the bees up there and bring them up in time for pollination," he said. "We are always concerned about Africanized bees, but I am not led to believe we are seeing that in Michigan. We are dealing with the normal strains of bees that can be more aggressive." Hybridized bees, even those from the south, generally don't pose a threat to the public, keepers say. "You need to respect bees just like you always did before," said Hilbert. "If you mess with a beehive they are going to sting you."
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