Killer Bees Escaped Brazilian Experiment

In 1957, Brazilian geneticist Warwick E. Kerr deliberately crossed African and European honeybees in Brazil, hoping to produce a bee that could collect more honey in warm climates. People later called the resulting Africanized honeybees killer bees, although Kerr designed the experiment to improve honey production rather than aggression. The bees escaped from their laboratory hives after someone accidentally removed a queen excluder, which allowed them to breed with local bees and spread their highly defensive traits. They reached the United States border around 1990.

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