Killer Bees

However, this nickname ‘killer bee’ is not completely accurate when it comes to describing their intentions. Due to an experiment that went wrong back in the 50’s, killer bees have now spread all over South America and still continue to migrate northwards into the southern part of the United States. This northward movement has enabled them to build large and strong colonies. This increases the threat of not only hundreds of people being stung by these bees, but also poses as a threat to agricultural crops because of the significant drop in pollination that was once provided by honeybees. Evidently, they are not only considered to be a menace to society, but are also now being viewed as a hazard to the society’s economy because of this rapid spread of killer bee colonies. However, you can’t blame killer bees for this, the blame lies on us, humans, for messing with Mother Nature.

Killer bees or Africanized honeybees are a hybrid between African bees and European honeybees. Killer bees are best suited to survive in places with tropical climate. Thus, in the year 1956, a group of Brazilian scientists thought they could improve these European honeybees by introducing the African bee to their colonies. As a result of which, the killer bee was produced.

In the following year, swarms of these killer bees escaped the quarantine and started to establish different colonies. Some African honeybees were also given to beekeepers, enabling the killer bees to migrate further up north into Central America. The killer bee colonies began to disrupt the beekeeper’s African bee colonies, causing a sharp decline in crop yields all over.

As the population of killer bees grew, so did the number of killer bee stings that were sustained by humans and animals. Killer bees are more sensitive than their European counterparts. They have the ability to sense danger from distances that are greater, they tend to strike more frequently, and are always found in larger numbers than the European bees.

Their recent appearance in the United States has been greatly publicized and this is how they were given their nickname ‘killer bees’. This however, had added an edge to the rather boring name of ‘Africanized honeybee’. However, this nickname exaggerates their otherwise harmless intentions. As opposed to common misconceptions, African killer bees do not swarm the streets in search of innocent victims to attack, but instead, sting purely as a defensive measure, and so don’t really intend to kill.

Despite their bad reputations for being more aggressive and violent than their European cousins, are in reality smaller. This however, results in a development time that is shorter thus enabling these killer bees to produce populations that are larger, creating a population advantage over the European stingers.

African killer bees are not required to store honey for the winters, because honey is only consumed for population growth and reproduction purposes. What’s more, these killer bees tend to abscond, leaving no workers, queen or any other resources behind. There are two primary reasons why a swarm would leave their colony and move on. Firstly, when there is dire shortage of resources and secondly, when they are disturbed.

As the killer bees have continued migrating northwards, there has been rising panic observed in communities all over. Most recently, this problem has affected places like Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico. There is no boundary for the determined killer bee. And there is no way to tell how far they can and will go.

True, they are indeed a menace to society, however, aren’t we to blame for doubting nature and tampering with it? Now, we have to bear with the consequences. It is very clear that experiments and ‘improvements’ can only lead to greater harm than doing good, especially when it involves such a delicate matter like the living patterns of living creatures.

Where these killer bees intend to head is uncertain, but the important lesson that people should learn from this is to never mess with nature. Since the very beginning of time, world has been and will always be able to sustain itself.

Lastly, because of the extreme similarities between killer bees and European honeybees, it is very important to refrain from playing with or aggravating any type of honeybee. If you find any hives in your area, then have them removed professionally so as to reduce any risks of being stung. Until this threat can be effectively controlled, it is always best to be safe rather than sorry right?