Africanized killer bee hive found in La Quinta

An Africanized killer bee hive was found in La Quinta this weekend.

It was noticed before someone got hurt, but the homeowner who lives near it says it took too long for local agencies to figure out who was responsible for getting rid of it.

“I got a knock at the door, it was a fellow who attended a garage sale letting me know there were bees and I went out and sure enough I saw it,” said John Redford of La Quinta.

Hundreds of bees were swarming around a green box next to the sidewalk right by to Redford’s home. Not knowning what to do, he immediately called the city of La Quinta’s emergency line.

“Four city of La Quinta trucks were outside and knocked on my door and said it’s not my their problem. I said it’s not my problem, it’s not my land. And he said well I don’t really care you guys can work it out,” Redford said.

The city of La Quinta employee thought it was a water box and called the Coachella Valley Water District, which came out and said it was an Imperial Irrigation District power box.

“It’s been very frustrating,” Redford said. “It wasn’t until the water district came and taped it off to protect people that may be walking.”

When IID arrived and confirmed it was theirs, it finally called a bee company to remove the colony. That was seven hours later.

Redford says that’s too long when people’s safety could be at risk.

“Even if you’re not responsible, you can’t leave what may be killer bees unattended and walk away from it,” he said.

We talked to bee expert Lance Davis, who identified the bees as Africanized killer bees, the same kind of bees that attacked and nearly killed a woman in Palm Desert earlier this year.

Davis says in an emergency, call 9-1-1. If you see a hive, stay away and don’t agitate it.

“It’s just like the woman who was stung over a thousand times. The Verizon guy tried to pick it up and close the lid and look what happened,” Davis said.

Davis said bees colonizing in electrical or cable boxes is common because of the cool and moist environment.

He says the quickest and safest solution is calling a bee company directly that removes the bees alive.

As for this hive, Davis says the job isn’t finished. Dangerous chemicals used to exterminate the bees weren’t cleaned up.

“There’s still dead bees, there’s still the bee hive, there’s still debris in that thing,” he said.

Begging the question, whose responsibility is it now?

For more information on Lance Davis’ Killer Bee Live Removal visit: http://www.killerbeeinc.com/