Africanized Bees in San Jacinto

Africanized honey bees are established across inland Riverside County, and the San Jacinto Valley is squarely in their range. Here is how they differ from ordinary honey bees, why they turn up in walls and yards, and what to do without getting stung.

What an Africanized bee is

The Africanized honey bee is the same species as the European honey bee most people picture, and to the eye they are nearly identical. What separates them is behavior. Africanized colonies defend their nest far more readily, respond to a disturbance in much larger numbers, and will pursue a person or animal a longer distance from the nest. Since the 1990s they have spread through Southern California, and inland areas like San Jacinto, Hemet, and the rest of the valley are within their established range.

Because you cannot tell an Africanized colony from a gentle one by looking, the sensible approach in this area is to treat any large, established bee colony near a home as if it could be Africanized. A single bee on a flower is not the concern. A defended colony in a wall, a box, or a tree is.

Why they turn up around San Jacinto homes

Honey bees swarm to reproduce, sending off a cluster of bees with a queen to find a new home. In the San Jacinto Valley heat that happens through the warm months, and a swarm looking for a cavity will settle into a wall void, a chimney, an irrigation or water meter box, a shed, or a hollow tree on a property. A swarm hanging in the open on a branch is usually just resting and moving on, while bees flowing steadily in and out of a hole in a wall means a colony has moved in.

Once a colony is established in a structure, it builds comb, stores honey, and defends the entrance. On an inland lot near open ground, the foothills, or the wildlife area, there are plenty of passing swarms looking for exactly the kind of cavity a house provides, which is why established colonies turn up in walls and boxes across the valley.

What to do, and what not to do

Do not throw rocks at a swarm, spray a wall colony with a garden hose, or block the entrance and hope, and do not let children or pets near a defended colony. Agitating an Africanized colony is how a few bees become a swarm of stings. If bees are coming and going from a wall or box near a door or a play area, keep people and animals back and call someone equipped to handle it.

A fresh swarm that has not built comb can sometimes be removed live, but a colony established in a structure is a job for an experienced local exterminator. The bees are dealt with, and then the comb and honey have to be removed so the cavity does not ferment, stain, and draw ants, beetles, and rodents into the wall later. Because of the Africanized risk in this area, an established colony by a San Jacinto home should not be disturbed by a homeowner.

References

• UC IPM, honey bees and Africanized bees
• Riverside County vector and public health

Have this problem now? Call 951-309-9255 and describe it.