Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain, D.V.M. said the Aug. 11 confirmation of Africanized honeybees in Winn Parish was not unexpected.
Winn Parish is northeast of Vernon, with portions of Natchitoches, Rapides and Grant parishes separating the two.
“We had already moved our trap line twenty or so miles east of Winn Parish after Africanized honeybees were found in LaSalle Parish last June,” Strain said. “Our duty is to notify the public and beekeepers in the Winn Parish area that Africanized bees are present.”
Strain cautioned that residents who spend a lot of time outdoors should use good judgment when they come across unexpected beehives.
“There is always a lag time between the initial report of suspected Africanized honeybees in an area and confirmation,” Strain said. “The best thing to do is to simply leave any feral bee colony you come across alone. There is a possibility the bees may be Africanized."
Strain said the Winn Parish Africanized honeybees were trapped June 24 at a LDAF monitoring point two miles southeast of Joyce off U.S. Hwy. 84.
The bee sample was sent to the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Ariz. for testing. The LDAF received the confirmation on Aug. 11.
The Africanized honeybee is smaller than its European counterpart commonly raised for honey production, but the size differential can only be measured under magnification.
Though the venom in Africanized honeybees is the same as that in the European, Africanized honeybees will sting in greater numbers which can lead to a toxic reaction in some cases. Seeking cover immediately helps to reduce the number of stings in a confrontation with Africanized bees.
Africanized honeybees were first confirmed in Louisiana in July 2005 from a sample trapped near the town of Rodessa in north Caddo Parish. It was the first case of Africanized bees moving into the state through natural range expansion.
LDAF maintains a line of traps running north and south through the state in order to detect the progression of the Africanized honeybees. The traps are placed roughly two miles apart and contain a queen bee pheromone that attracts swarms of bees.
The current trap line runs on a north-south line from Morehouse Parish to Charenton in St. Martin Parish.
Baton Rouge, La. —
