BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Firefighters, police and government workers from Broward and Miami-Dade counties gathered Monday for special training on how to deal with the killer bee invasion of South Florida.

The bees, properly called Africanized honeybees, have begun to show up in Florida. They are commonly referred to as killer bees because of their tendency to attack en masse any person or animal that enters their territory. The attacks can cause serious injury or death. Experts said that the killer bees swarm more often than indigenous honeybees, and they guard a much larger area around their hives -- as much as a quarter mile from the hive. They are known to attack for something as non-invasive as a car engine running near a hive.

Experts said that once a hive becomes aggressive, it can remain agitated for as long as 24 hours, attacking people and animals within a range of a quarter-mile from the hive.

The killer bees are all descendants of southern African bees imported into Brazil in the 1950s by scientists that hoped to breed a bee that could better adapt to the South American climate.

Some of the hybrid bees escaped in 1957, and they bred with Brazilian honeybees, quickly expanding their range through South and Central America.

Since the 1990s, there have been increasing reports of killer bees in the United States.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, for the last decade, Florida has been surveying for the Africanized honeybee. The program involves placing bait hives in ports, and educating ships' crews and dockworkers to identify and report suspicious swarms.

The FDA says that nearly 500 bait hives are in place throughout the state, primarily in port areas, along Interstate-10 and on the Florida/Alabama border. The bait hives are checked on a three-week cycle based on the reproduction habits of the AHB.

According to the Canadian Honey Council, Africanized bees have been found in at least 10 counties in Florida.

Monday's training session was designed to ensure that first responders to a killer bee attack know exactly how to treat and transport the victim and how to protect themselves during rescues. Law enforcers, rescue and government workers were also instructed how to spot an Africanized bee colony and how to avoid possible trouble.

For residents, the FDA has one simple word of advice for an encounter with killer bees: Run. Bees tend to sting the face and head, so the FDA advises anyone under attack to try to cover your nose and mouth with your hands while running. Never stand still or get yourself boxed into a place outdoors where you cannot escape the attacking bees. You should run to an enclosed building or vehicle, but the FDA said that you should not lock the doors since others may need to escape the bees, or you may need help after the attack.