[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading forty years ago during the first “Killer Bee” fright that a scientist said by the time the African bees reached the USA they would have inbred so much with regular bees they would be docile.

Didn’t work, did it. It was settled science!

[pa_dweller]

I remember reading forty years ago during the first “Killer Bee” fright that a scientist said by the time the African bees reached the USA they would have inbred so much with regular bees they would be docile.

It turns out the African bees have a different lifestyle than the European bees so no interbreeding takes place. Fruitless Fall explains this and many other fun facts about honeybees.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

(from the article):" .. Friday’s incident serves as a “good wake-up call” as Africanized bees move into the area.
The breed of honeybees, also known as killer bees, was discovered for the first time in the Bay Area.."

The killer bees were brought to increase honey production by South American bee keepers.
An untrained assistant, working in the bee yard, accidently removed a "queeen excluder gate" which allowed the queens to escape into the 'wild'.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Ruy Dias de Bivar :" ..a scientist said by the time the African bees reached the USA they would have inbred so much with regular bees they would be docile."

The African bees were brought to South America to hybridize with local bees.
Besides increased aggression, the African bees swarm (hive division , and resulting spread) approximately three times (3X) more frequently than native bee varieties.
Originally, the scientific thought was to blockade them near the Panama Canal , a naturally occurring isthmis 'choke point'
however, several colonies were transported in agricultural crops as well as on marine transport that bypassed the 'choke point', thus allowing further invasion.
Inter-continential transport thus allowed further infestation expansion .