EDITORIAL : BEWARE THE BUZZ; AFTER YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD-TYPE HYPE, THE `KILLER BEES' HAVE ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES AND THEY'RE READY FOR A CLOSE-UP.It's said that bad things usually come in threes. Sometimes they come in swarms. In the past year, we've suffered through rainstorms brought by El Nino, the threat of drought perpetuated by La Nina La Niña n. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns. and now, after at least a decade of hype, we face life with the abejas asesinas. To those of you who don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. Spanish, that's ``killer bees Killer Bees Those who help a company fend off a takeover attempt with the use of defensive strategies. Notes: Companies, usually with the help of investment bankers, use a number of strategies to repel a hostile takeover bid including, but are not limited to: poison ,'' those dastardly das·tard·ly adj. Cowardly and malicious; base. das  tard·li·ness n. , yellow-and-brown-striped buzzers who protect their hives hives (urticaria), rash consisting of blotches or localized swellings (wheals) of the skin, caused by an allergic reaction (see allergy). The swelling is caused by distention of the skin capillaries and escape of serum and white cells into the skin and tissues. as ferociously as the City Council is protecting the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. in charter reform. Despite the horror stories about swarming attacks on people and dogs that get too close to the queen and her babies, Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner Cato Fiksdal said there is no need for alarm. Yes, the Africanized honeybees have moved into Los Angeles. And yes, there have been reports of hives in the southwestern part of the county. But, Fiksdal insists, we can all get along. ``Once here, they're here forever,'' he told the Board of Supervisors. ``It's never going to go away.'' Still, he wants to make their colonization of L.A. County as difficult as possible. The commissioner is urging the supervisors to adopt an ordinance that would allow the county to dispatch pest-control companies to private property to eradicate killer bees if the property owner can't afford to hire a private service or refuses to do so. This is a sound plan to protect the lives of humans and animals in the county. Though deaths are rare - there have been none in the 17 stingings in California since the bees arrived in October 1994 - the bees attack in such large numbers that the potential for danger is always there. So along with earthquakes, floods and brush fires, we add the killer bees to L.A.'s lore. |
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