Saturday, February 26, 2011
Africanized Bee in Florida
The Africanized Honey Bee is cross between South African Bees and European Bees. It has been dubbed by the media as the "killer bee". They get their nickname from their hyper-defensive nature and the dozens of deaths that have been attributed to them. The bees react quicker to perceived threats than do European Honey Bees, and when they do so, they attack relentlessly in larger numbers. To the naked eye they are indistinguishable from European Bees. They can only be told apart f by looking at them under a microscope or by analyzing DNA. The bees originated in Brazil during the 1950s, since then they have spread out to cover most of Central and South America and parts of North America. When I lived in South Florida there was a lot bees around my house. Inevitably some of these bees were Africanized bees as they call Southern Florida and much of the South West Home.
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What is the scientific name of the Africanized Honey Bee? Considering this semester will focus heavily on taxonomy, you should get use to researching this topic of each species you decide to study. Very interesting topic!
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