Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

In a message dated 9/18/2005 11:51:59 AM Central Standard Time, tallcarabians@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> Hmm, I haven't heard of bees putting their nest in the ground.  Maybe they
> were yellow jackets (one group of VERY pissed off wasps!) or hornets?  


Rae is correct.  Honey bees (of which the "killer" or Africanized bees are a variety) don't put their nests/hives in the ground.  The ones in the ground are variously referred to as yellow jackets, or around here, ground wasps.  They get extremely pissed off when stepped on, ridden over, etc., especially in the fall (much more irritable and more likely to chase people in the fall, I've found).  

Regarding the "killer" bees.  I've talked to a researcher at Texas A&M (I think his name was Dr. Coulson, if I remember correctly).  He studies honey bees, bee diseases, etc., and he's contacted me for info on the locations of any bee hives in the forest.  Anyhow, in his research in East Texas, he's found that 90+% of the honey bee hives in the forest are Africanized (killer) bees, while more of the hives in the more open country are "regular" honey bees.  Seems that regular honey bees don't like the dense forest.  So any of you who ride in the forest in E. TX, don't piss off any honey bee hives.  <G>  I see them fairly often at work (I work for the Forest Service) and have walked right past them with no problem, so they're not going to attack unprovoked, just that what they consider provocation is much less than the average bee.

Dawn in East Texas