Killer Bees - The Truth About the African Invasion

The other night I was watching a rerun of the television classic, Saturday Night Live. One skit in the show was a spoof of the "insect horror" films with John Belushi and Steve Martin. It was followed by a film called Killer Bees, in which Gloria Swanson plays a woman with a strange control of a swarm of killer bees.

These two programs got me wondering. How many people know the truth about killer bees? This article will dispel some of the myths and give you the real facts about this so-called menace.

First of all, the so-called killer bee is actually an Africanized Honey Bee. These bees had been imported into the Western Hemisphere in the 1950's as part of a research project in Brazil and some escaped to mate with the native Western Honey Bees of the area. This hybrid swarm, then began to migrate northward, and rumors of an impending attack were spread by an uninformed press.

Actually, the Africanized Honey Bee is no threat to humans or livestock, unless an individual is allergic to them. They move in search of food and water and are very defensive of their nest. In truth, just by looking, it is almost impossible to tell these bees from any other. Contrary to rumors, their sting is no more dangerous than that of their American counterparts.

Instead, their greatest danger is to the economy. Estimates range upward of $50 million if they have the same impact on North America as they did in the nations to the south of us. A part of that impact comes from the fact that these bees don't like to live in one place and they are not very friendly when it comes to sticking around and helping the keeper to recover the money lost in replacement bees when these "fly the coop." Other than this, they pose no more danger than any other honey bee.

It's amazing to me that a little bad publicity, some misunderstandings, and some very bad films have given this little creature a bad reputation. By understanding this bee, we can help to prevent a world of people from living in fear of something that will not harm them.

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