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Los Angeles County West Vector & Vector-Borne Disease Control District
Local AHB News
6/10/09
KILLER BEES ATTACK SOCAL WOMAN AND HER HORSE
- PALOS VERDES , CA
Africanized honey bees swarmed a woman and her horse on a Palos Verdes Peninsula trail.
Torrance resident Jacquie Ball was stung repeatedly but wasn't seriously hurt.
The woman says she was riding her horse and leading a yearling on Upper Si's Canyon Trail in the Palos Verdes Estates area last week when the bees attacked, targeting her face and the horse she was riding.
She turned loose the yearling, jumped off her horse and ran.
The hive was later removed from an old water meter.
In the last 15 years, Africanized honey bees - so-call killer bees - have become common in Southern California. (Associated Press, 6/10/09.)
6/09/09
AFRICANIZED BEES ATTACK TORRANCE WOMAN ON ROLLING HILLS HORSE TRAIL
- PALOS VERDES , CA
Now is the time of year when Africanized honey bees can get particularly aggressive, a fact one local equestrian recently found out the hard way.
Torrance resident Jacquie Ball was riding her horse and leading a yearling on Rolling Hills' well-traveled Upper Si's Canyon Trail last week when some very angry bees decided she was an intruder.
They attacked, targeting her face and the horse she was riding. She turned loose the yearling, jumped off her horse and ran back up the trail, but was stung on her entire way back.
"I never saw a hive or a colony or a swarm, or anything that was a warning," said Ball, who runs a local horse transportation business. "I just got hit in the face, hard and fast.
"With all these years of riding on trails, I've been through honeybees," she said. "This is way out of the ordinary."
After calls to the city and Los Angeles County West Vector and Vector-Borne Disease Control District, the culprits were found. On June 3, a hive was removed from its home - an old water meter, a favorite spot for the bees.
"A lot of times they'll pick a spot not too far off the trail, but you can't see the hive," said vector district Executive Director Robert Saviskas. "They tend to like open areas like Palos Verdes."
In the last 15 years, Africanized honey bees have become common in Southern California, having spread from South America through Texas. The bees are more protective of their territory and swarm more frequently and more aggressively than honey bees, Saviskas said.
The vector district gets calls about aggressive bees from The Hill every year, but the attack on Ball was unique in severity, Saviskas said.
Signs alerting residents to bees have been placed on the private Rolling Hills trail.
"This needs to be a warning to everybody," Ball said.
If attacked, you should run quickly to a safe area, preferably indoors. Do not swat bees or flail about - bees are attracted to movement and the smell emitted by their crushed brethren.
For more information on Africanized bees, go to www.lawestvector.org. (Melissa Pamer, The Daily Breeze, 6/9/09.)
