Killer bees

Home to the Four Seasons Resort on Nevis, Pinneys Beach is a sure bet for getting stung by a Killer Bee, the signature drink at nearby Sunshine s Beach Bar. 

Africanized bees made their way north through South and Central America following an accidental release in Brazil in 1957. The bees entered North America in the early 1990 s and have come to reside in Texas, California, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The massive number of stings these bees inflict can be fatal to both animals and humans, which is why they are also called killer bees. Varroa mites are the number one killer of honeybees worldwide and are one of the largest ectoparasites (parasites that live on the outside of the host). If this mite s size was considered on a human scale, it would as big as a basketball. 

In connection with the discussion about Africanized killer bees in America, it was interesting to compare metabolism and activity of the usual European honey-... 

Franca, F.O.S., Benvenutti, L.A., Fan, H.W., Dossantos, D.R., Hain, S.H., Picchi-martins, F.R., Cardoso, J.L.C., Kamiguti, A.S., Theakston, R.D., and Warrell, D.A., 1994, Severe and fatal mass attacks by killer bees (Africanized honeybees, Apis mellifera scutellata) in Brazil - Clinicopathological studies with measurements of serum venom concentrations. Quart. J. Med. 87 269-282. 

Robberflies (Asilidae) are often called bee-killers from their heavy predation on honeybees. Apis mellifera. Because of a resemblance between the two, some have suggested that aggressive mimicry is involved, allowing the robber fly to approach its victim more closely. However, A. mellifera is an exotic species. Linsley (1960) studied native bees and wasps as possible models in the American south-west. He concluded that the mimicry seems to be of the Batesian type since the models seemed to be out of the preferred size range and may appear but rarely in the mimic s prey. L. Brower et al. (1960) came to essentially the same conclusions with regard to their work with bumblebees (Bombus americanorum) and robberflies (Mallophora bomboides) in Florida. 

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