If You Come Across an Africanized Bees Nest, Call the Ministry of Agriculture
But what about the Africanized bees – they’ve been giving us pure, natural honey in clear and dark colours, depending on the types of flowering plants that the bees feed on during the course of the year. They can also be deadly when they attack in swarms, and stories like this have not been in short supply. So what should you do if you encounter bees in an area? Well, there are numbers you can call in the various district towns to reach the Ministry of Agriculture. But if it’s the weekend or a holiday when the offices are closed, there are some dos that you must follow.
Miguel Huertas
Miguel Huertas, National Coordinator, Beekeeping, Ministry of Agriculture
“What we suggest for them to do is that when you see a swarm coming by, just keep a distance. When the swarm is just arriving, they might take a rest or if they find it appropriate, they will settle there. They will remain there. When the swarm reaches, they are defenseless. They won’t defend. The colony will only defend when they have brood, when they have honey, or when they have already started to build their honeycombs or their combs. Once the bees are there they will just take a rest. Most of the time bees stop somewhere on a tree or somewhere and they will take a rest and they will leave. But if no one reports, they might grow in size, they might build a honeycomb and there is the threat. What we recommend is keep a distance and make no noise and call the office. We have a situation that whenever we have a vehicle available we can attend to the situation. And there are private beekeepers that do as well.”
The numbers you can call to safely remove bees from your area are: in Corozal: four zero two, two two nine seven. In Orange Walk the number to dial is: three four two, seven one one nine. Belize District residents can call: two zero five, five zero eight eight. In Belmopan, the number is: eight two two, two six four eight. In Cayo, you can reach phone number eight zero four, two zero seven nine. Stann Creek residents can call: six seven two, one zero five five. And in Toledo, the number to call is: six two six, six five nine two.
