Killer Bee

Africanized Honey Bees, popularly termed Killer Bees, look very similar to ordinary honey bees (also known as European Honey Bees). Even trained experts may find it difficult to tell a Killer Bee from a regular bee. The anatomical differences are minuscule and identification is often performed in a special laboratory.

Killer Bees are a hybrid species created artificially by Brazilian scientists who mated European honey bees with Wild African bees (hence the term Africanized bees). They aimed at producing better honey production, but instead created a new type of highly aggressive bee.

Unfortunately, the new bees escaped from the lab into the wild and soon began to dominate local bee populations. The Africanized honey bees are not only more aggressive, they also tend to swarm more often, thus spreading across distances. These dominant bees advanced across the continent and moved north, invading new territories.

The Killer Bees invaded the United States somewhere during the late 1980's or early 1990's. The first recorded swarm of Killer bees was in South Texas in 1990.

Killer bees have indeed been known to kill people. They are overly protective and will attack intruders who come within a hundred feet of the hive. They attack with a vengeance, chasing the intruders away. Victims of killer bees attacks have suffered ten times more stings compared to attacks by regular bees.

It should be noted that preventive pest control measures against Africanized killer bees are taken by affected States. These include sophisticated methods aimed at decreasing the rate of the bees' population growth.

If you come across a swarm of bees in a State that is known to have killer bees, keep your distance and make sure no children or animals come near the nest. Do not drive near the nest just to get a look, as vibrations will cause the bees to swarm.

Contact your local emergency services for further instructions.

If you come under attack by Africanized bees, your best bet is to cover your face with your hands and out run the bees. Try to run away in a straight line and avoid contact with other people until you're out of the bees' reach (otherwise those individuals are likely to be attacked as well). Seek medical attention as soon as you can.