IRONWOOD, MI - Friday, July 10, 2008 - These bees were spotted swarming around the intersection on Ayer and Lawrence. They gathered on the telephone pole on the southeast corner of the interesection.

By the time we arrived on the scene, the bees moved across the street to the southwest  corner of the interesection and took up residence in a evergreen tree.

It was rumored that the swarm was made up of Africanized "killer" bees. Our photographer walked up close and took these pics. He came within 12 inches of the bees at times and was not stung.

The Africanized Honey Bee is a hybrid of one of the several European Honey Bee subspecies (Apis mellifera mellifera, A.m.carnica, A.m.caucasia, or A.m.linguica) and the African Honey Bee (Apis mellifera scutellata). The hybrid is virtually indistinguishable in the field from the common honey bee. The AHB will set up colonies in all the same areas as the European Honey Bee (EHB) and will also nest close to or in the ground. The most noticeable difference between the two types of bees is that AHB is extremely aggressive in defense of the colony. At any perceived threat, bees can "swarm" out of the colony and attack, stinging in large numbers, sometimes in the hundreds.

Were they killer bees? Were they honey bees? You decide....

For some fastinating information about honey bees go to the PBS Nova website at the following web address: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/.