In 1956 the scientist Warwik Kerr imported African honeybees to South America with the intention of breeding a more productive strain. Some of them scaped and raised with European bees, resulting a new specie.
In 1985 this honeybees began to spread until Mexico, and San Francisco. The Africanized honeybees acquired the nickname "killer bees" inspiring plenty of fear and many films of bees.
The africanized honeybees is smaller than European bees, for that reason they brings less venom.This venom is no more potent. This bees are more danger because they proceed more quickly, in greater numbers and with more stinging.This explains the agressive reaction that this bees have caused the death of 100 people over the last of 50 years.
Bert Rivera-Marchand an entomologist of Puerto Rico said that the Puerto Rican bees are slower to sting and do so less frequently, Bert he said that only they are defending their hive. Bees show significantly reduced defensive behaviour.
Then Bert with his colleagues demonstrated that the Puerto Rican killer bees behaved almost exactly like European honeybees.
Beekeepers are using local Africanized bees for in their industry and do not report problems with highly defensive behaviour.
In my opinion I think that Kerr was right to import bees from Africa to South America and we have known that other species of bees and how well they have learned things from European bees, and vice versa.
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