HONEYBEES COMING OUT FOR SPRING RESIDENTS URGED TO LEAVE INSECTS ALONE, BEWARE OF NESTS.

Byline: Daily News

PALMDALE - Spring is the time for honeybees to emerge from their winter quarters, according to the Antelope Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, which offered guidelines for residents to follow.

With the arrival of the Africanized honeybee and its reputation as a killer bee many people panic when they see more than one bee anywhere.

But mosquito control officials said there is no need to be terrified. All bees, whether Africanized or the common European variety, will defend their nests if disturbed.

Africanized honeybees have been migrating northward after their accidental release in South America in 1957. The first Africanized bees reached North America in 1990 but were not discovered in the Antelope Valley until March 1999.

Since that time, Africanized honeybees have successfully colonized the region. Ongoing testing by the district documents that approximately 60 percent of the wild bees in this area are Africanized.

Now is the time for bees to swarm and it is likely that people see a black cloud of bees flying down the street, or a cluster of bees hanging on a tree branch.

Swarms are traveling groups of bees in search of new nesting sites and are generally more docile, but will defend themselves if provoked.

Department officials urge residents, and especially children, to leave all bees alone. Although the value of honeybees as pollinators cannot be overstated, nests found in residential areas pose a public health risk and should be removed promptly by trained technicians.

The department offered the following suggestions:

--If a swarm or nest of bees is found, leave the area and call the Antelope Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. If the bees are located in or on a structure, consult the telephone book for a private pest control operator.

--Do not throw things at, try to remove or chase the bees away. This will only anger them and could initiate an attack.

--If attacked by honeybees, immediately run and find shelter inside a vehicle or building. Africanized bees will attack with less provocation and in greater numbers than do European honeybees. Thousands of bees might chase a perceived attacker for up to a quarter of a mile.

--Residents are urged to survey their property for potential nesting sites. Honeybees will build nests inside tree cavities, wall spaces, water meter boxes, inverted trash cans or buckets, old appliances, vehicles or accumulated debris piles.

All such sites should be removed or properly sealed with caulking or one- eighth-inch screening to prevent bee entry.

For further information, contact the Antelope Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District at [phone]. Services, literature and educational presentations are available at no charge to residents.