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Bee remover Rodney Tyoe, 70, pulls a chunk of a hive out of the wall of a building at 1505 S Missouri Ave. after he killed the bees with a chemical. Thousands of bees had been preparing to split the hive, Tyoe said.
CLEARWATER — The building Jeff Garland bought in October was supposed to be vacant.
On Thursday, he found out he had a heap of unwelcome tenants — about 40,000 to 50,000 of them.
Clearwater police responded to the one-story wood house at 1505 S Missouri Ave. after receiving a call about a swarm of bees massing on an outside wall.
"It looked like lava," Garland said.
Garland, who owns Jeff's Jeep Yard in Clearwater, said the building is slated for demolition next week.
It's a good thing the bees were discovered before then, said Rodney Tyoe, owner of Tyoe Bee, Wasp and Yellow Jacket Removal in St. Petersburg.
Based on their aggressive behavior, Tyoe surmised the culprits were Africanized bees. A hybrid of European and African honeybees, Africanized bees — sometimes referred to as killer bees — are no more venomous than European bees but are known to fiercely defend their colonies. If one stings you, others will join in the attack.
"They were swarming because they were getting ready to split the hive," Tyoe said.
A colony will split when it runs out of space, said Tyoe, 70. The move maximizes honey production and ensures the colony's survival.
But Garland's ill-fated colony didn't make the move in time and didn't survive.
Tyoe doused the swarming bees and the inside of the wall with a toxic chemical solution. Then he ripped out exterior boards to get to the massive hive, which was removed to discourage bees from returning.
Tyoe estimated the bees had been in the wall for about a year, but were probably imperceptible to passers-by until they swarmed, creating what Garland called a "brown blanket" on the home's white walls.
Some bees may still return to the hive within the next day or so, but should quickly succumb to the poison, Tyoe said.
"We didn't have near the problems we could have had," Tyoe said.
Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4162.
>>Fast facts
40,000-50,000 Estimated number of bees found
70-80 Weight, in pounds of the bees, honeycomb, honey, pollen and eggs removed
4-5 Length of hive, in feet
2-3 Width of hive, in feet
• You cannot tell an Africanized honeybee from a European by sight.
• An African bee's sting is no more venomous than a honeybee's. But because Africanized bees are more aggressive, you're more likely to get stung, and more than once.
• If you disturb an Africanized bee colony, run away and get inside a closed structure.
• If you get stung, do not pull the stinger out because that can release more venom. Gently scrape it out with a blunt object.
Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
[Last modified: Jul 22, 2008 04:11 PM]
Comments on this article
by Keith
Jul 22, 2008 4:11 PM
The needed pollination or not, a active and organized hive would kill a child that may have come upon them unexpectedly. The lets save the world people obviously do not have children to care about. Jeff did the right thing and had them eliminated.
by darryl
Jul 19, 2008 7:11 AM
I live in stpete,and there is a tree full of bees,but the city wants the tree removed,and marked it with a red dot.the city workers sprayed poison in the hole where the bees live i couldnt beleive it.its just as easy to move them.
by Heather
Jul 18, 2008 1:40 PM
This is the second Heather, the one who had the bees.We tried to "relocate" our bees but because they appeared to be partly Africanized, no professional beekeepers would do it.The beekeepers have been asked NOT 2 take wild bees b/c of the Africanized
by Heather
Jul 18, 2008 10:06 AM
This happened to us: Our garage wall looked just like the picture. Anyone who sees a lot of bees on their property should keep an eye out to see if they are flying in and out of part of the structure.Ours were partly Africanized & getting aggressive!
by Heather
Jul 18, 2008 10:06 AM
With Bee populations at an all time LOW, you'd think they would at least find the queen and relocate her to start another coloney. OH YEH RIGHT we don't need bees....they only pollinate the world!
by Jon
Jul 18, 2008 10:06 AM
Doesn’t this idiot know that bees (our pollinators) are suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder? With a mass die-off, farmers need bees to pollinate their crops. There bee wranglers who can safely move hives. I hope this guy is ashamed.
by JP
Jul 18, 2008 10:05 AM
Isn't our world facing a huge bee die-off? Won't that compromise our agriculture & exports? Was it necessary to kill the bees & destroy the hive? With out bees, we'll eventually have to figure out how to artificially pollenate our crops.
by darryl
Jul 18, 2008 10:05 AM
I dont understand why the bees couldnt have been placed somewhere else instead of killing them.
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