Killer Bees

The media circus surrouning the "Killer Bee" attacks had its origins in Sao Paolo in 1957, when Warwick E. Kerr produced a hybrid of the European and African bees. The project was a success, as the engineered bees were renowned for their speedy honey production. But, after the bees escaped the lab and swept over the southwestern United States, widespread panic ensued about the notion of overly aggressive bees. Despite the hype, the epidemic eventually subsided and further examinations found no imminent hazards in the so-called “Killer Bee.”

The Truth About Killer Bees - No Crisis, No Money

SearchWarp - Is the American media responsible for giving the Killer Bee a reputation that is worse than it deserves? In a word, YES, according to experts. A name like Killer Bees attracts readers. Its real name is the Africanized Honey Bee (AHB), but that moniker causes viewers to yawn, just as you may have done if I had substituted AHB for Killer Bees in the headline on this story. The truth is this: The AHB is slightly smaller than our common European Honey Bee (EHB), its venom is not stronger nor more toxic and, contrary to some press reports, it does not sting repeatedly; it stings once, leaves its stinger, then eventually dies. How does AHB...

Africanized Killer Bees: Frankenstein of Science

Associated Content - In 1956, scientists from Brazil 'shipped in' bees native to Africa. Their goal at the moment was to create a new bee hybrid that would increase honey production. The hybrid created was the Africanized Bees, also known as killer bees. Brazil's honey production went from being 4th in the world in 1956 to 27th at the beginning of 1990's. What went wrong? The killer bees escaped from captivity and began their quest to take over the honey bees. After building colonies throughout South America, killer bees spread to Panama, then into Mexico, and in 1990 they reached Texas. From Texas, the killer bees have found their way into New Mexico, Arizona,...

1.3.08

02:04 AM -

Made For TV Movies

Anonymous - Does anyone remember those made for tv movies where bees would swarm up from mexico offing old people and children right and left? Special government units fighting a losing battle against bee doom swarms-- Those were the days.

1.2.08

11:52 PM -

These were never a threat.... what about

azp - the avion flu? That could actually have serious implications, but it's pretty underreported

1.1.08

10:59 PM -

yeskey - This was such an outrageous media creation. Even at the time all scientists and insiders had a "what on earth are you talking about" response to the panic

03:37 PM -

Remember these?

Anonymous - I remember being afraid that killer bees were going to swarm their way up to NY, killing everything in their path like a biblical plague. That's what we were promised, after all. It's funny to see these things that are supposed to be the next life-threatener, and to see how they turn into nothing. That said... some turn into something. On 9.10.2001, you could have run a WEHT Terrorism. Would have felt like an idiot for running that one.

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