# Killer Bees
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 12, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552 "2003-02-12T12:40:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cart)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/1 "2003-02-12T12:40:44Z")
What happened to those African killer bees that were released in Brazil (?) years ago? Weren’t they going to sweep north and kill everyone?
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### Author:  [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/2 "2003-02-12T12:54:52Z")
According to the Weekly World News, they grew to mamoth proportions and routinely attack Miami residents with their laser-beam eye rays and the “honey of death”.
Or were those the _ants_?
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### Author:  [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/3 "2003-02-12T13:23:07Z")
Googling “Africanized bees” instead of killer bees will direct you to a number of serious websites. Yes, they’re real; yes, they have made it to the United States and are still spreading; yes, they can kill a human. But no, they are not as dangerous as the scare stories of the '70s made them sound. After all, people in their native Africa have learned to live with the little beasts.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/4 "2003-02-12T14:26:19Z")
Killer bees are real, and they’ve been here in Texas (among other U.S. states) for many years. They DO attack and injure dozens of people each year, and are responsible for several deaths each year (I don’t have time to look up the numbers)- just not as many as 1970s horror movies would have had you believe.
The problem with these bees is not that they’re particularly aggressive, or even that they’re extraordinarily venomous. Rather, it’s that when they DO attack, they attack en masse, in a swarm, and they don’t calm down as quickly as ordinary European/American honeybees.
In practical terms, what that means is this: if you rile up an American bee colony, you’ll get a few stings before you can get away from them. If you rile up an African bee colony, you’ll get dozens (maybe hundreds) of stings. And if you’re one of the many people with an allergy to bee venom (even ordinary American honeybees are responsible for a fair number of fatalities each year), that can be deadly.
A genuine menace? Yes- but not serious enough that any ordinary Texan spends much time worrying about them.
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/5 "2003-02-12T14:41:46Z")
[Homer drooling]Mmmm, honey of death[/HD]
They’ve been in Phoenix a few years now and IIRC we’ve had at least one human death. It’s become the status quo in that the fire department will no longer respond to people who find a wild hive, instead referring them to one of the many exterminators who specialize in bee removal. Keep in mind in the southwest we’re used to lots of bitey, pointy, stingey, venemous things that are potentially fatal so we don’t get as worked up over gang bees as you might think. A healthy person can typically outrun bees.
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### Author:  [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/6 "2003-02-12T16:33:44Z")
Padeye says: A healthy person can typically outrun bees.
I didn’t know that. I thought the little critters would win every time. My response, to try to hide, would be wrong.
When a person outran the bees, how far did he have to run?
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### Author:  [@Ego\_Mk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ego_Mk2)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/7 "2003-02-12T16:44:32Z")
The bees are out to destroy us all. That’s why I live in the North. No killer bees, no termites, no fire ants, no kudzu. Cold is your friend!
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### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/8 "2003-02-12T17:18:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ego\_Mk2 \*
> \*\*The bees are out to destroy us all. That’s why I live in the North. No killer bees, no termites, no fire ants, no kudzu. Cold is your friend! \*\*
The North has it`s benefits.
Although there are times when I would trade mosquitos for killer bees. Those Fu\*\*ers are aiming for you! So are the g-damn horse flies!
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-bees/154552/9 "2003-02-12T18:58:21Z")
How fast can a bee run?