Tuesday, May 11, 2010

OMG How can Kten News be sooooo irrisponsible!!!

Stephen has been overwhelmed with calls the last couple of weeks. It is bee swarming season and our number seems to have been passed around. Not complaining though because every hive we can capture is a hive saved.  

Stephen has been asking people how they got his number, every one says they got it from the phone book under exterminators, ummm we haven't listed a phone number at all so I am lost as to where this came from.  Very strange. We only have cell phones so we don't even have a phone book, so   I decided to search the net to see if I could get his name and number off the net. I didn't have any luck but I did stumble across a Kten news story about bees and now I may never listen to their news again!! Below is a quote from the news article, I also included the link at the top for the actual news article!




Although some people prefer to leave their wild bee swarms alone, since many of the swarms move on in 3 to 4 days, the safest course in urban areas is to hire a professional exterminator to remove the swarm or exterminate it, before it can discover a way into your home.
Homeowners can also handle the job themselves with an inexpensive sprayer and soapy water.  Liquid dishwashing detergent mixed with water can be sprayed through a sprayer to kill exposed bees.  Soapy water is less likely to agitate bees than other methods.  A mixture of 1 cup of liquid soap in a gallon of water will immediately disable bees that are wetted with the solution.  Wetted bees die quickly.  Continue to spray the swarm as the outer layer of bees falls to the ground.  All bees must be thoroughly covered with soapy water to ensure that the swarm is eliminated.  Catch dying bees in a garbage bag or trash can as the bees are sprayed with soapy solution.
Regular honey bees and Africanized honey bees ("killer bees") are so closely related that it is impossible to tell them apart except with genetic analysis or under a microscope.  Both types of bees are sensitive to nest disturbance, however, Africanized bees respond more quickly, send more bees from the colony to drive the intruder away, and pursue intruders farther than regular honey bees do.
The venom of Africanized bees is chemically identical to regular honey bees, but they are a greater threat because they are more likely to sting in greater numbers.
For more information on bees, please visit http://honeybee.tamu.edu.

All I could think the whole time I was reading this garbage was why couldn't this empty headed reporter actually inform people about the beekeeping associations and agricultural departments in the viewing area. This information would provide viewers with contact information to organizations that can assist people in finding a beekeeper to safely remove a swarm of bees rather than exterminating them! In case people aren't aware honey bees are rapidly disappearing. With out honey bees we won't have produce. How could any reporter encourage people to kill such a vital link to our food source! Wow how irresponsible of the reporter and even more so the news station for not better monitoring the information they are putting out! 
 Oklahoma Beekeepers Association at (405) 433-2362, evenings, or the Texas Beekeepers Association at (512) 388-3630.
 

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