Africanized bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) are a species of bee made in Brazil. They were created from a lab experiment that mixed European bees and African bees, and they eventually escaped. They were produced by the Brazilian government, and they were released on the mainland instead of an island. Killer Bees are dangerous and relentless creatures made from a failed lab experiment.

Africanized Bees are very aggressive. They have the same amount of venom as Honey Bees, but Africanized Bees attack with usually ten times the amount of bees. This means that a swarm of Africanized Bees are far more dangerous than a swarm of Honey Bees. Next, they take Honey Bee hives. After they’re done hibernating from winter, Africanized bees go and find a Honey Bee hive and kill all the bees in it. They do this every year in the spring when they are done hibernating in the previous hive they stole. Finally, when they’re done killing all the bees, they go and make they Honey Bee hive theirs. This leads some scientist to question if Africanized Bees are responsible for colony collapse disorder. Africanized Bees kill entire populations of Honey Bees and replace them. In all, Africanized Bees are very dangerous and should be treated as such.

Killer Bees have many downsides when compared to Honey Bees. First, Africanized Bees are less efficient at pollination. In places such as California, Africanized Bees seemed far better than Honey Bees. They had up to 70% of the pollination of alfalfa fields. Over time though, Africanized Bees have showed that they can not keep up with the pollination rate of Honey Bees. Next, Africanized Bees rarely produce any honey. Africanized Bees were thought to also be better honey produces than Honey Bees, but that hypothesis also was proved wrong. This was proved wrong when instead of Africanized bees producing honey they escaped and migrated. All of this shows us that Africanized Bees were a mistake and do nothing for the greater good.

The killer bees were well adapted to the initial environment of South America. Killer bees ended up migrating north at a rate of 100-300 miles per decade. This poses a threat to all people in the southern states like Texas, Nevada, California, and Florida. Africanized Bees are very adaptable to climates, and some scientist think they could even grow accustomed to cold northern environments. If they could do this then they would be able to attack in the cold of winter since they usually don’t hibernate. Some bee experts think Africanized Bees have already reached as far north as they can though. Killer Bees are adaptable killers and can go in any environment they want. We can see this from their astonishing ability to survive in the wet Amazon rainforest and in the dry Mojave desert.

Africanized bees are a big problem that we must all deal with. They kill Honey Bees and do little good. Africanized bees are an abomination made from a lab in Brazil and they stop at nothing to kill their prey. In all, we should all keep caution in states Killer Bees have infested, so we can all stay safe and alive.

Questions

How could we get rid of killer bees?

How come the Brazilian government allowed the experiment on mainland Brazil?

Should the Brazilian government be punished for the deaths that killer bees caused?