Killer bees are back, but researchers from UGA’s Odum School of Ecology and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are reminding others not to panic.
Sightings of killer bees have increased in the Southeast. These hybrid honeybees thrive in Southern areas that have warm weather. Lewis Bartlett, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia, encourages the public to not panic.
“They're all the same species, and so it's not so much about whether or not the Africanized, or hybrid bees, are spreading, but more about whether they're intermingling and breeding with the bees that we keep,” said Bartlett.
If there is a colony of bees that you were not aware of, don’t cause a panic or try to remove it yourself. Contact a local UGA Cooperative Extension office, the Georgia Department of Agriculture or a local beekeeping club that can remove the nest effectively and safely.
