Swarm of Killer Bees Found in Trap Near Yuma

A swarm of Africanized honey bees--so-called killer bees--has been found in a trap four miles southwest of Yuma on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced.

None of the bees has been detected in traps along the California side of the river, and the first hives of the unusually aggressive bees are not expected to arrive in the state until spring, department spokesman Carl DeWing said.

The Yuma swarm, which was destroyed, was believed to be pioneer bees from a large front of Africanized bees that have moved north from Mexico into parts of Arizona, including Tucson and Phoenix, he said.

Because of cool winter weather, the movement of the bees is expected to slow until spring, he said.

Although there have been sporadic reports of swarming bees attacking humans in Arizona who upset their hives, the only U.S. death so far attributed to the bees was in Texas, where a man tried to destroy a hive inside the wall of an abandoned house with a torch.

The bees are offspring of Africanized bees that escaped in Brazil in 1957, after they were brought there for experimentation.