[Taxacom] Africanized Bees

[R J Ferry]

Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>

I need information re Africanized strain of /Apis melifera/.

1. Questions: Have they been known to establish a ground or underground 
hive, and

how far away from a tree-or-bush hive have they been known to attack 
individuals? 2. Local comment, "wasps won't follow you, but bees will; a 
bee puts out an alarm pheromone that summons others to pursue the 
individual, but not so wasps." Is there any truth (or partial truth) to 
this? 3. I would appreciate any definitive photographic material 
(preferably jpg) of the stinging portion of the anatomy. I have heard a 
bee's stinging mechanism has backward-placed trichomes or hairs that 
prevent the stinger from being pulled out once it's been inserted. If 
so, I would appreciate any photographs or drawings showing this. 
Information in Triplehorn & Johnson (7th ed, 2005) is woefully scant on 
the Africanized bees, and less so on stinger anatomy.

These questions stem from an encounter with such bees three days or so 
ago, resulting in a hospital stay for me and a fatality to a small dog. 
I have a couple of jpg photomicrographs of bees, but the stinger area 
isn't (to me) satisfactorily detailed. Any information and/or jpg 
material will be greatly appreciated and certainly properly credited if 
used.

Thanks in advance. R. J. Ferry, PhD Victoria, Texas