MERAUX -- More Africanized honeybees have been found in St. Bernard Parish, indicating that the fierce little hybrids sometimes called "killer bees" are probably established in the New Orleans area, the state agriculture commissioner says.

Associated Press

They were trapped about five miles down the Mississippi River from the spot where workers tearing down a house in January because of damage from Hurricane Katrina found a colony of the bees, Bob Odom said Tuesday.

The trap was about a mile south of Meraux and two miles southeast of Chalmette. It's close enough to the earlier find that the bees might be a swarm from the colony found in January, but might also have flown ashore from a passing ship or barge, he said in a news release.

"Although the exact source can't be identified, we have to assume Africanized honeybees are now established in the area and people should be careful when working outside," Odom said.

The Department of Agriculture and Forestry keeps traps along a north-south line through the state and at all deepwater ports to monitor the bees, which are smaller and more aggressive than the European honeybees raised for honey.

"Because Africanized bees have been labeled 'killer bees' for years, there's an idea around that they are bigger than European honeybees," Odom said. "The truth is they're actually smaller but a lot fiercer."

They have the same venom as honeybees, but attack in groups. Experts recommend that anyone confronted with Africanized bees find cover quickly.

Africanized bees are the result of an experiment to increase honey production in Brazil. A swarm escaped a lab in 1957 and headed north. When they mated with native strains, the offspring were as aggressive as the African parents.

They reached Texas in 1990 and have spread west to California and east to Florida. They were first found in Louisiana in Caddo Parish, in June 2005, and identified the following month. They have moved steadily east since then, and were most recently found near Pecan Island and Turkey Creek.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)