AHB's -- the latest new acronym for people in the Southwest U.S. to worry about -- stands for Africanized Honey Bees. These are also known as killer bees.
Since 1957 due to a major snafu (acronym for situation normal -- all fokked up) by an entomologist in Brazil, these bees have been marching northwards and into the U.S. They reached the southern U.S. border with Mexico in 1990, three decades later.
On Thursday 3/30/2017 a swarm appeared on the field of the preseason MLB scrimmage game in Peoria, Arizona during the ninth inning. Players lay down on the grass so as to avoid the swarm which had begun massing on the field microphone behind home plate. It looked like a nuclear bomb drill from back in the early 1960's.
Meanwhile the Colorado Rockies won the game 10 to 4 over the San Diego Padres.
By lying down on the grass, the players and the umpire made themselves as small as possible so as not to attract the keen vision of the bees. This however is not a normal recommendation for anyone caught in a bee attack to do.
Most people can outrun a bee attack, but it may require running several blocks. A block is normally about 100 yards long, which is about the length of an athletic field. So you may need to run a quarter of a mile to get away. A high school athlete can usually run a quarter of a mile in 2 minutes or less. And older person may take twice as long. The key is not to stop running, and then to duck indoors as soon as you have a chance.
Jumping into a swimming pool is the worst thing you can do because the bees will just wait for you to surface, and then they will attack again.
Most people can survive about 20 stings at once. Any more would likely require hospitalization and treatment for anaphylactic shock, which is the classic bee sting disease.
Currently the bees have reached all the way north to the San Joaquin Valley short of Sacramento, California, and to the 3 southern counties of Utah, and all over Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, western Louisiana, and southern Florida. If you live in or visit these areas of the Nation then you need to be alert for the bees and if necessary take cover. Europeans or Asians visiting the U.S. need to be aware of this Brazilian plague here as well.
I wrote this summary from the following 3 online articles. And I first saw the news report on CBSNews.com this morning.
A massive swarm of bees sent Padres and Rockies players ducking for cover
What You Need to Know About Killer Bees in Phoenix
Africanized Honey Bees: Where Are They Now, and When Will They Arrive in North Carolina? | NC State Extension Publications
Since 1957 due to a major snafu (acronym for situation normal -- all fokked up) by an entomologist in Brazil, these bees have been marching northwards and into the U.S. They reached the southern U.S. border with Mexico in 1990, three decades later.
On Thursday 3/30/2017 a swarm appeared on the field of the preseason MLB scrimmage game in Peoria, Arizona during the ninth inning. Players lay down on the grass so as to avoid the swarm which had begun massing on the field microphone behind home plate. It looked like a nuclear bomb drill from back in the early 1960's.
Meanwhile the Colorado Rockies won the game 10 to 4 over the San Diego Padres.
By lying down on the grass, the players and the umpire made themselves as small as possible so as not to attract the keen vision of the bees. This however is not a normal recommendation for anyone caught in a bee attack to do.
Most people can outrun a bee attack, but it may require running several blocks. A block is normally about 100 yards long, which is about the length of an athletic field. So you may need to run a quarter of a mile to get away. A high school athlete can usually run a quarter of a mile in 2 minutes or less. And older person may take twice as long. The key is not to stop running, and then to duck indoors as soon as you have a chance.
Jumping into a swimming pool is the worst thing you can do because the bees will just wait for you to surface, and then they will attack again.
Most people can survive about 20 stings at once. Any more would likely require hospitalization and treatment for anaphylactic shock, which is the classic bee sting disease.
Currently the bees have reached all the way north to the San Joaquin Valley short of Sacramento, California, and to the 3 southern counties of Utah, and all over Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, western Louisiana, and southern Florida. If you live in or visit these areas of the Nation then you need to be alert for the bees and if necessary take cover. Europeans or Asians visiting the U.S. need to be aware of this Brazilian plague here as well.
I wrote this summary from the following 3 online articles. And I first saw the news report on CBSNews.com this morning.
A massive swarm of bees sent Padres and Rockies players ducking for cover
What You Need to Know About Killer Bees in Phoenix
Africanized Honey Bees: Where Are They Now, and When Will They Arrive in North Carolina? | NC State Extension Publications
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