By Faith Peppers
University of
Georgia
As Africanized bees, sometimes called killer bees, approach
Georgia’s borders, University of Georgia experts are helping
emergency response workers be ready to respond to a victim’s
needs.
UGA Cooperative Extension entomologist Keith Delaplane is
working
with Georgia Farm Bureau to train emergency medical response
workers know what to do when they get a distress call.
“The first line of attack are the emergency responders, since
the
general man on the street will punch 9-1-1,” Delaplane said. “So
EMS workers need to know first and foremost how to address an
attack.”
Training in Macon
EMS workers can attend a special training Nov. 9 from 9:30 a.m.
to noon at the Georgia Farm Bureau headquarters in Macon, Ga.
This training is geared toward EMTs, municipal agencies and
beekeepers.
“Our goal is to give an overview of the biology, history and
present distribution of Africanized honeybees,” Delaplane said.
“We want to give practical advice for beekeepers, emergency
responders and ordinary citizens.”
Africanized honeybees have been documented in Florida since
2002.
“We know eventually they will move our way,” Delaplane said.
“It’s important that we get solid information in the hands of as
many community leaders as possible in anticipation of the
arrival
of Africanized bees in our state. It’s a matter of hoping for
the
best, but planning for the worst.”
How to get there
For directions to Georgia Farm Bureau building, check online at
www.gfb.org/contact/m
ap.html.
For more information on Africanized honeybees, download the UGA
Extension bulletin at www.en
t.uga.edu/bees/Publications/B1290.pdf.
Or call your county
Extension agent at 1-800-ASK-UGA1.
Some beekeepers are already becoming specialized at removing the
more aggressive Africanized bee swarms. And that’s important.
“We don’t have a pest control industry that’s plugged into the
problem,” Delaplane said. “An attack is a problem for EMS, but
if
a colony has moved in and is confirmed to be African, that’s a
problem for a pest control service. By and large, pest control
companies don’t want to deal with it and consider it a
hyperspecialty that’s outside their work.”
Delaplane would like to change that.
“I’d like to cross-train the industry, but we’ve not had a lot
of
interest,” he said. “We have had a small cadre of beekeepers who
are looking at going into bee removal. There will be more demand
for this special skill set that general pest control workers
won’t have special training for. You have to remove the hive in
a
wall, not just spray, so you have to have some carpentry skills,
too.”
(Faith Peppers is a news editor with the University of
Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
