Aggressive bees in Bay Area attack were regular honeybees

CONCORD - State officials say the aggressive bees that swarmed a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood earlier this month were not Africanized killer bees.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1szOyO3) that agricultural officials said Tuesday that it was a swarm of regular honey bees that killed two dachshunds and stung several people in Concord. Bee experts say the behavior is unusual for this species.

The May 13 swarm started when an amateur beekeeper attempted to move his hives.

Scientists at the California Department of Food and Agriculture tested seven of the bees and found that they were European honey bees with no sign of Africanized ancestry.

The hyper-aggressive Africanized bees are a hybrid species introduced to Brazil in an attempt to improve honey production. They escaped and eventually spread to North America.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com