On The Brighter Side
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Buzz! Buzz! Are Those Bees Still Buzzing?
What happened to the Killer Bees we were told about a few years ago?
“Run for your life! They are coming!”
Those Killer Bees were making their way north and would be taking over America by the turn of the century.
A scary movie, “The Swarm”, was released in 1978 which increased our fear. It made us feel very nervous, along with numerous documentaries about the looming threat. “The Killer Bees were coming!”
Obviously, the Killer Bees menace has not destroyed America. Why were people so scared about them and how did they live up to the name “Killer Bees?”
Actually, those scary killer bees were named for a new type of bee developed in Brazil which was a cross between European bees with East African bees bred to create a hybrid that would create more honey.
That didn’t work out very well as those bees were difficult to control, escaped their hives, and too quickly spread across Brazil and soon much of tropical and sub-tropical Latin America.
They may have produced more honey, but were much more aggressive than the normal bees and could migrate long distances. This was bad news because the so-called Killer Bees often replaced the normal bee population in areas they invaded. Good luck to anyone who tried to harvest their honey!
Are they really “killers?” Their sting is no more toxic than a normal bee sting, but they are much more aggressive and will attack invaders in a swarm and chase them for a long way, sometimes up to a mile.
Midwesterners (us) can relax because our cold winters appear to form a barrier, so far at least. Other dangers threaten our honey bees, but not the “killers.”
OH NO! HELP! What about all those wasps and hornets now flying around and building nests from which new generations will soon fly out to build more nests and buzz around porches, decks and doors? I sure hope we don’t have “Killer Wasps!” Get out the spray cans and swatters. BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!
-MG
Contributed by Marilynn Goodwin