Africanized Honey Bees Head West For Food, Says UC Davis Researcher

Because winter is approaching and the bees don't store a lotof food, they are currently swarming in a westerly directionlooking for food sources, according to Eric Mussen, a UCCooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis entomologydepartment.

Many of the Africanized honeybees won't find food by the endof November and will die of starvation, he notes.  But, whilethe bees are swarming in search of food, they pose apotential threat to folks using public parks, golf coursesand other places where there are a lot of plants and flowers.

Members of the public should not try to deal with any type ofswarming bees, rather they should call a local countyagricultural authority or a pest control expert, Mussenstresses.