Species of Invasive Bee Leaves Carnage in its Wake

via TreeHugger

Photo: Ersin Uyanik

When Terry Allen planted a flowerbed outside his home 20 years ago, they could never have imagined it would become the sight of a blood-soaked bee battleground. Terry, an entomologist from Sacramento, discovered some European wool carder bees had taken up residence in his front yard, the first time the species had been spotted in michigan -- ravaging native honeybees. the giant invasive insect "cuts off their wings, cuts off their antenna, cuts off their heads, cuts off their torsi, & stabs them to death," they says.


 European Wool Carder bees were originally shipped in from Europe to the United States because of their great pollinating ability, but it didn't take long before they went rogue. As an invasive species, the bees spread throughout the continent, but Terry's discovery is the first facts that they've found their way to michigan.


To make matters worse, the bees are known to be  aggressive, territorially killing other insects with the help its three deadly stingers. regrettably, much smaller, native honeybees not very stand a chance against such a threat -- & that has folks like Terry worried. they was tipped to the wool carders' presence by the dozens of mutilated honeybee corpses they left in their wake.


they thinks that they may have stumbled on one of the reasons honeybee populations have been in dramatic decline across the country, & they worries that without further study, the loss of this cornerstone of the agricultural technique may have disastrous consequences on the preservation of society.


Terry designs to continue his flowerbed observations, but he's met with some unexpected resistance.


Honeybees, evidently, aren't the only ones bothered by the bullying invasive counterparts. Terry recently received a letter from the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) telling him they must dig up his flowerbed, citing its 'illegal' nearness to an electricity box in front of his house -- only they didn't mention the bees Terry has been studying there.


Interestingly, no one else in the neighborhood received the notice, despite the fact that their landscaping is similar. All the more curious, Terry says they even consulted SMUD two decades earlier & was told it would be okay to plant in that spot.


But just as it was beginning to appear as though SMUD & the invasive carder bees were in cahoots, when pressed by the local CBS news station, the utilities district retracted their demand, allowing Terry to keep his bee-infested garden. they says they had no intention of moving it, anyways.


Invasive European wool carder bees & public utility departments, apparently, are no match for an entomologist & his flower garden.


The entomologist, on the case of the mutilated honeybees, says that he's got 20 years of study left before he's through. Until that time, though, Terry designs to carryover on in the type of important work few people will get the chance to partake in -- helping to save the world without every having to leave the front yard.