JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Eighty-nine-year-old Steve Negri has been eyeing a colony of killers that continues to multiply across the street from his house.
"There a bunch up there," he said of an Africanized bee colony that has doubled in size over the last three weeks.
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Now, there's another hive in sight in clear view from the ground.
"We let everybody know that they're over there, to be careful," Negri said.
Negri said the bees attacked the homeowners' dog, which nearly died after it was stung dozens of times.
"The lady who lives there told me they took (her dog) down to the dog (emergency room) and it just about died," Negri said.
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African killer bees have their name because when the bees feel threatened, they attack in swarms, and in some cases, they keep stinging their victim even after the bees are dead.
Deaths by killer bees are still rare in the U.S. They are more commonly known for taking over native bee hives and killing the queen bee.
Dan Covington said he just worked on his neighbor's house last week, and he feels fortunate he didn't trigger an angry swarm.
"I painted his house all the way around the back with a ladder -- big, tall ladder," Covington said. "I was hitting bushes and everything. I see a couple fly around, but I didn't think it was that kind of bee."
Professional bee trappers are scheduled to remove the bee hive on Monday.
They said more African bees may become more prevalent in northeast Florida because the species is slowly migrating from central Florida to northern Florida.
