The Killer Bee

Busy Buzzing Bees

Busy buzzing bees

Traveling with ease

First sighting in 1950

From Brazil to Nevada

They can be found in proximity

In crates and tires

Empty cars too

They can be found near the ground

Or in old Nike shoes

During summers, they forage alone.

Trying not to be caught by their predators

They camouflage with their patterns

Wishing to be back home

Easily threatened, they tread

If you startle them, beware of the chase ahead

Their stings are like burning fires

Being caught off guard is like a never-ending nightmare

They consume nectar and honey.

While making beekeepers lose their money

From 29 to 59 million dollars lost each year

They produce five times less honey than other bees

Graciously feeding their whole colony

When they aren’t able to produce enough honey for the colony

They raid other hives for their precious honey

Killer bees are like mice to spiders and birds

And are like predators to their own species

They forage for pollen from dandelions and berries during warm seasons

And keep warm in their hive during cold seasons

Over the years, honey prices could become so high only the super-wealthy could afford

If not for Warwick Kerr’s mistake in the lab

Honey prices wouldn’t have increased as much as they have

Whoever meets a swarm of killer bees has a 75% chance of being attacked

Which can explain the number of deaths each year attracts

Even 7 years after the first sighting, there were already 600 people that had fallen  

Scientists and researchers are cheetahs when it comes to people’s safety

And have set 1,200 killer bee traps already

While other scientists are also working on selective breeding for calmer colonies

Their efforts won’t go to waste

And hopefully, in the near future, they will be put to rest.

Beware of the Bees

Introduction

There are many invasive species found all around the world. The killer bee is an insect and an invasive species found around the Americas that originated in Brazil. They could also be known as the most invasive species in the Americas because killer bees are aggressive and violent. Since killer bees are very easily frightened, many people are attacked, and some of the victims die because of the stings. Although killer bees look like the average bee and have many things in common, like what they eat, their behaviors differ. Killer bees are destroying the honey-making industry because of the small amount of honey they make year-round. Some scientists are currently working on many different ways to eradicate them and there are also some trying to fix their violent tendencies. Killer bees should be quickly dealt with to help the people near the hives feel better security and decrease the number of deaths each year. 

Description and Behavior

 All types of bees look similar, although they might differ slightly. Killer bees are a type of bee with more aggressive behaviors. They can easily get confused with other bee species because of the similarities in their physical appearance. 

Killer bees, also known as Apis mellifera scutellata, are of the class “Insecta” and the family “Apidae” (“Killer Bees”). Killer bees are made up of a head, a thorax, and an abdomen, like any other type of bee. They are also yellow-colored and have dark brown stripes near their abdomen, which can help them camouflage with tree bark, allowing them to hide from predators (Oldham). They have an oval shape, six legs, and antennae. Some people think that killer bees look ugly or disgusting when they see a zoomed-in picture of them because of their hairy skin. Finally, killer bees are half an inch long, smaller than any other bee (“Africanized…”). Killer bees can be easily confused with other bee species, so if not identified by somebody experienced or with rulers, they can be challenging to tell apart. 

Killer bees can be distinguished by their unique behavior and habits. Killer bees tend to defend a larger radius near their nest and protect it with more “vigor” (Oldham). They are more easily provoked, scared, or surprised than any other type of bee. Since worker bees are out of the hive most of the time, they are also bees that attack most people and lead to the most deaths (“Africanized…”). If someone ever finds themselves near bees and cannot recognize if they are honey bees or the more aggressive killer bees because of their similarities, they should be careful and quickly get away from the nest before they get attacked.

Introduction to and Description of their Non-Habitat

Bees can be found worldwide. Specifically, killer bees are a type of bee species seen in South America and Southern North America. 

Despite killer bees being found around the United States, Central America, and South America, their ancestors were originally from Africa and bred with Brazilian bees, making them hybrids. Killer bees can be found in all climates but thrive the fastest in tropical environments (Oldham). Since killer bees have small colonies, there have been multiple reports of killer bee nests being found in “tires, crates, boxes, and empty cars” (“Africanized…”). Recently, there have been colony sightings in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Florida, and Louisiana (Oldham). While the first sighting of a killer bee was in Texas in October 1990, their colonies have spread far enough to reach California and Nevada (“Killer Bees”). 

Initially, there were only killer bees in Brazil because African bees were transported there for scientists to breed them to make more honey. However, ever since they escaped captivity, they have been found all over the Americas. Warwick Kerr, a Brazilian scientist, made a mistake in the lab that resulted in the escape of the African bees (John). After the African bees escaped, they “began to dominate the native honey bee” (“Killer Bees”). Killer bees are a product of African honeybees mating “with different types of bees” in Brazil after their escape (John). The first ever killer bee was identified in Brazil during the 1950s. In 1985, the first group of killer bees was found in California, and soon after, there were permanent colonies found in 1990 (“Africanized…”). Scientists were initially going to use killer bees to create more honey, but in the end, killer bees produced “less honey than European honeybees” (Oldham). Even though killer bees originated in Africa and Brazil, they are now the number one invasive species in the Americas and will continue to spread.

Diet and Foraging

All types of bees eat similar foods. Killer bees can feed on all kinds of flowers or fruits, which helps them when their hive is located in a very remote area away from vegetation. Killer bees can adapt quickly to the types of food near their nest, giving them many things they can eat. 

Killer bees are herbivores who forage for nectar and honey during warm climates. Killer bees can specifically get their nectar or pollen from “plants like alfalfa, fruit trees, berries, sunflowers, melons, lavender, dandelion, clover, wild plum willow, locust,” and a variety of flowers that they can find near their nest that are in season (“Africanized bee…”). The nectar and pollen that they collect from outside their nest are used to make honey, which is utilized to feed their larvae all year round and as a food source for the bees during winter when the flowers and fruits they usually forage for are out of season (Oldham). Although the number of killer bees increases yearly, there will not be a shortage of food because of the variety of flowers and fruits from which they can get their nutrients.

Killer bees start foraging younger than most bees because of their growing number of larvae. Over the years, killer bees have adapted and gained specific characteristics to help them forage for food in many different environments, including environments where resources such as fruits or flowers are less abundant. Sometimes, when they cannot forage for enough food to feed the larvae or the whole nest during winter, they will start foraging at night, or they start raiding “other beehives and steal honey” from other nests (“Africanized bee…”). Unlike other types of bees that forage in groups, killer bees are “generally more solitary when searching for food” (Oldham). Since some animals like “birds, spiders, skunks, badgers, and bears” tend to target killer bees when they forage, killer bees have to be wary of their surroundings when they leave the nest (“Africanized bee…”). Foraging is vital to a killer bee’s life since the whole nest cannot survive and thrive without plentiful harvests.

Adverse Effects

Many invasive species cause problems depending on where they are. The problems they cause could alter their surroundings or could involve the economy. Since killer bees arrived in North America, they have been causing various economic and ecological issues. 

One of the problems that killer bees cause is that they damage the economy. Even though killer bees were supposed to be bred to make more honey than European honey bees, they produce “less honey” than regular bees (Oldham). The reason that slow honey production is a problem in the first place is that a lot of Americans eat honey. If Americans ate less honey, the slow honey production would not be as big of a problem and would not cause beekeepers to lose much money. Specifically, Americans eat an estimated amount of “275 million pounds” of honey each year (“Killer Bees”). According to the USDA’s predictions and the difficulty of managing killer bees, they will eventually cost the United States beekeepers around “$29 million to $59 million each year” (“Killer Bees Will…”). Beekeepers are starting to get anxious since killer bees managed to “dominate a honeybee region” and reduce honey production, which can cause them to lose even more money (“Killer Bees”). If Americans do not lessen the amount of honey they eat each year, there might be a spike in the cost of honey over the next few years.

Some ecological problems that killer bees cause include deaths yearly due to their attacks or violence toward humans. Killer bees are “responsible for the deaths of thousands of people” (“Africanized bee…”). When the killer bees spread quickly in 1957, an estimated “600 people” had already been killed (“Killer Bees Will…”). It is believed that most people who got attacked by killer bees and died had an allergic reaction. It is also said that killer bee venom is “no more dangerous” than regular bee venom, but what makes them dangerous is when they start attacking in groups (“Africanized…”). Because only one colony has “between 20,000 and 90,000 individuals,” and since there are multiple colonies around the Americas, there is a large population of Killer bees roaming around and attacking people who get near their nest (Millburn). Studies have shown that if someone comes across a swarm of killer bees, they have a “75% chance of being in a deadly attack” (“Killer Bees”). Regardless if killer bees do not have a more potent venom than any other bee, anyone who comes across a bee hive should be careful around it not to aggravate the bees inside; if by chance they are killer bees, it could lead to another death. 

Study, Control, and Eradication

Some people around North and South America might be aware of killer bees and the issues they cause. Still, not all of them know of the dangers they cause, which can be a big problem considering how many are around the Americas. If people were more self-aware of such dangers that killer bees cause, more people would avoid them and there could be less deaths yearly.

Many scientists and government personnel are working on eradicating killer bees. While the first killer bee appeared in 1950, researchers were said to be observing 318 bee traps in Southern Texas by 1990 (“Killer Bees will…”). Despite killer bee populations growing at a rapid pace, scientists have been quickly looking for ways to eradicate their species and have currently set over 1,200 bee traps along Texan roadways. If scientists keep setting traps around North and South America over the years, killer bees can become extinct.

Researchers have been trying to make killer bees less aggressive. Since Killer bees have become invasive, more beekeepers and scientists have been selectively breeding bees in Brazil to create “more docile colonies” (Oldham). To be able to capture them they use traps coated with bee-attracting pheromones to capture them (“Africanized bee…”). If researchers and scientists keep working together to eliminate or fix their habits, soon, there will be zero deaths due to killer bees, and the honey industry will become stable again.

Work Cited

“Africanized bee (killer bee).” A-Z Animals, 2008, a-z-animals.com/animals/africanized-bee-killer-bee/.

“Africanized (“Killer) Bees.” pestworld.org, National Pest Management Association, 2023, www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/stinging-insects/africanized-killer-bees/. 

John, Robert. “How Did Killer Bees Wind Up in America?.” J&J Exterminating, 24 Oct. 2017, www.jjext.com/killer-bees-wind-america.

“Killer Bees.” Pests.org, 12 May 2023, www.pests.org/killer-bees. 

“Killer Bees Will Have an Economic Sting.” Deseret News, 15 April 1990, www.deseret.com/1990/4/15/18856903/killer-bees-will-have-an- economic-sting.

Millburn, Naomi. “Life Span of Killer African Bees.” Pets on Mom.com, 19 Nov. 2020, animals.mom.com/life-span-killer-african-bees-9073.html.

Oldham, Cydni. “Killer Bee - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Interesting Facts.” Animals Network, 18 June 2018, animals.net/killer-bee/#google vignette.