“Killer Bees,” more accurately known as Africanized honeybees, are not more poisonous, but they are much more aggressive.
In 1956, a geneticist named Warwick Kerr brought African honeybees to Brazil to crossbreed with European honeybees because they are such prodigious producers of honey.
Unfortunately, the offspring turned out to be just as aggressive as the African bees.
Worse, they escaped from captivity and have been moving north ever since, crossbreeding with native wild honeybees from South America to the southwestern United States.
Unlike the more docile native bees, Africanized bees will actually chase and attack other creatures in a swarm.
Victims, ranging from small animals to humans, may be stung hundreds of times, and it is not uncommon for dogs and other animals to die as a result.
Even a few people, notably those with heart conditions, have been killed by the bees.
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