A work crew with Iola contractor Danny Ware Sr. ran across an aggressive swarm of bees Monday, prompting Ware to question the species of bee.
“They aren’t like anything I’ve seen,” said Ware, who has reached out to the Kansas Department of Agriculture to determine their origin.
Ware uncovered the hive after the bees chased him and his workers from around the side of a house he was working on in the 500 block of North Street.
Ware and all but one roofer eluded the bees. The roofer was stung, Ware said.
The bees were much more aggressive than other species he’s encountered, Ware said.
Even more curious, Ware and his crew had worked on the house all day Thursday, and encountered nary a bee.
Ware quickly emptied a can of hornet killer, but soon realized it was not going to be enough to kill the swarm.
“There were hundreds of them,” he said.
He wound up using six cans of hornet spray by the end of the incident.
“We’re pretty sure we got them all,” he said.
A nest, about the size of a soccer ball, was found inside a wall he was stripping, Ware said.
Ware took two of the bee carcasses and what appears to be an egg sack to the Southwind Extension office.
Employees there directed him to contact the state agriculture department.
“They have DNA tests to tell us exactly where they came from,” he said.
He was still awaiting a response from the state after leaving a telephone message.
“I’m kind of curious to see what kind they are,” he said.
American honeybees have been known to attack, but those attacks tend to happen if their hive has been disturbed.
Ware wondered aloud if this species was of an Africanized honeybee, known to be much more aggressive than its American or European honeybee counterparts.
“That’s what was so crazy,” he said. “They were ready for us to attack.”
