Bees In Chiang Rai.

[tayto]

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/20Sep2007_news15.php

50 PEOPLE STUNG

Swarm of angry bees attacks pupils on soccer pitch

Chiang Rai _ A large swarm of angry bees attacked students and staff of a primary school in Chiang Rai's Wiang Chai district yesterday. At least 50 people, mostly small children, were stung.

The swarm attacked during a lunch break while many students of Ban Wiang Doem school were playing on the school's football field.

School director Natthapong Athawongsa said 13 kindergarten pupils, aged 5-6 years, were in serious condition and had been taken to hospital. One of them, five-year-old Theerawat Khuikhia, was put on a respirator at Somdej Phra Yanasangworn Hospital, he said.

Mr Natthapong said the swarm of bees moved in and settled on a tree in the school grounds on Tuesday evening.

The bees responded angrily when a group of Prathom 4 pupils threw stones at them, he said. All pupils were evacuated while staff tried to chase the bees away with fire.

The director also asked the local disaster mitigation office to help get rid of the bees by spraying them.

[konjianghai]

Thx for sharing the news and hope it doesnt happen to the whole province.

[sceadugenga]

That's an amazing story, I was present once in my school days when a swarm attacked a fellow student who was poking them with a stick but no one else nearby was stung. Bees are generally harmless even when swarming provided they are left alone. If you're like some people I know and have an allergic reaction to bee stings it's an even better reason to leave them alone.

Swarming is a natural part of the bees cycle, the birth of a new queen results in civil war in the hive and the losers are driven out to start a new hive.

There must be apiarists in the area as there is plenty of local honey and usually they are only too pleased to come and collect any stray swarms.

They are useful creatures and it worries me to think of an over enthusiastic Thai pest control officer happily spraying out a primary school with some toxic chemical.

[Joel Barlow]

There are abotu 50 bee hive boxes right by my house - no problems at all... Well, they had to be moved towards the end of the dry season, as it was so dry that there was little for them to gather...!!! They got a trip to Lampang!

Their Karen tenders don't wear any protactive clothing at all.

Monsonto and other genetic engerineering/DNA modification companies present bees with a big problem... the new differences confuse them. As the pesticides and antibiotics often used now in agriculture also cause them problems! There are many fewer bees (and frogs, and salamanders) than there were not so long ago (30 to 40 years ago even) and may be even fewer soon. Einstein is reported to have said that if the bees die off, humanity will also go within 4 years... I strongly suspect he was right on that!

[chownah]

Yeah, bees are awful....they defend themselves when attacked!!!!!!!

[SeeJo]

That's an amazing story, I was present once in my school days when a swarm attacked a fellow student who was poking them with a stick but no one else nearby was stung. Bees are generally harmless even when swarming provided they are left alone. If you're like some people I know and have an allergic reaction to bee stings it's an even better reason to leave them alone.

Swarming is a natural part of the bees cycle, the birth of a new queen results in civil war in the hive and the losers are driven out to start a new hive.

There must be apiarists in the area as there is plenty of local honey and usually they are only too pleased to come and collect any stray swarms.

They are useful creatures and it worries me to think of an over enthusiastic Thai pest control officer happily spraying out a primary school with some toxic chemical.

An intelligent, respectful and helpful post. Being a hobby beekeeper in another life (not an expert), I might add a few comments. Bees are more than just useful (no criticism intended). They, far more than any other insect, are actually critically necessary for the adequate pollination of our foodstuffs worldwide, without which food crops could not be grown or food available to feed cattle and other animals to satisfy the carnivorous among us. Bees not only do the best job at this, they give us the "fruit" of their labours. They swarm because it is too hot in the colony, it has gotten overcrowded or both (the beekeeper must keep adding compartments) and because the queen is getting old and less productive in laying enough eggs to sustain the colony. The bees superfeed two or three eggs creating a new queen. She emerges and kills the other two or three before they can hatch out. The new queen then flies out, mates with a larger male bee, a few of which were also created by special feeding of a few eggs by the worker bees, the new queen is then fertilized for life while the male bee has his genitals jerked out after copulation and dies. The new queen then re-enters the hive and leads a swarm of bees out in search of a new home. The swarm will hesitate attached to a fence, limb, etc. while the scouts find a home. Before swarming the bees gorge themselves with honey to last them until they find and settle into a new home, making them almost unable to sting, giving me some doubt if the bees in the original post story came from the swarm; possibly, but from a nearby hive being tormented by the children more probably. I have eased my arm through a swarm without a single sting several times to prove this to doubters. Any beekeeper in the area will happily come and get the swarm (easy to do if one knows how), taking it to an empty hive - and may reward the caller with some honey later.

Regards,

SeeJo

[goski]

Bee, is that "pueng" or "peung"??

[sceadugenga]

Bee, is that "pueng" or "peung"??

I've found either one will do goski, as long as you make a buzzing noise and and an insect flying motion with one hand.

Edited October 4, 2007 by sceadugenga

[Joel Barlow]

Other than the honey bees in man-made boxes near my home, there are several other kinds. One very small kind lives in the steel girders holding up the car-port roof, and they "swarm" regularly, every day. This is not the nest-moving swarm cited, but just something they do, I don't know why. i walk through it, from car (or motorcycle, electric bike, regular bike or whatever) to house door, many times per day, as does everyone in my household and many visitors. No one has been stung or even bothered by a bee landing or getting too close - they just buzz off out of the way...

A volunteer teacher aid from England, still a teenager, was a visitor half a year ago. He had a terrible fear of bees. Like fear of dogs, this fear can bring on a problem which otherwise would most likely not exist! I didn't mind keeping him away from the quite harmless bees, as they might respond to smell... respong to swatting, they most certainly would!!!

[SeeJo]

That bees can, will, and do react (in fear or anger?) to fear in humans, is true. Bees can indeed smell fear from the pores of your skin. I have experienced this myself. Once when removing a frame covered with bees from a hive (I always smoked them lightly, but never used gloves or a netted hood), I had a lapse of confidence and common sense and allowed fear of being stung multiple times to come over me. As usual, several bees had walked onto my hands and arms, and immediately I was stung by many of them. And these were the "Midnight" strain of bees - the most docile and gentle known. And by the way, when a honey bee stings, it is their final act. The stinger and poison sac is torn out of them and they die. If these are not carefully removed from the skin, more poison will be squeezed out of the sac making the sting even more painful.

Regards,

SeeJo