Many wonder as to why the Puerto Rican honey bee are more of
a gentile species compared to their ancestors the African honey bees. African honey bees were once bred in the
1950s with a European bee. This made the
offspring have very aggressive personality giving them the name “killer bees”,
and these bees escaped the laboratory from where they were bred. These bees were bred to get both good genes
to mix into one species, but what they got was an aggressive species, that
would be able to survive well in a tropical environment. The new African honey bees arrived in Puerto Rico
in the 1990s, the odd thing is that they did not keep their aggressive personality. The bees have evolved into a gentle
species. Researchers noticing this took
30 genomes of the gentile Puerto Rican bees, 30 Africanized bees, and 30 European
honey bees. Puerto Rican bee’s genomes had
more similarities to those of the Africanized bees, but still retained the European
DNA in certain areas. The DNA of the European
or African bee would be more prominent in Puerto Rican bee based on the environment
the Puerto Rican bee lived in. Evolution
caused these bees to stay gentile because the more aggressive bees were killed
throughout years depleting the population.
This study is hoping to help bee keepers. They now can see the difference between the
gentle African honey bees compared to the European bees. These European bees also have less genetic diversity
than the African honey bee. Therefore, European
bees are more open to diseases, and have had a rapid decline since the year
2005. The Puerto Rican Africanized bee grooms
itself better than the European, playing a role on why they are better at
fighting off viruses. They will groom
any mites off themselves that can potentially cause harm. All this can help beekeepers in deciding what
bees to use.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171116090114.htm
http://naturedocumentaries.org/10269/secrets-hive-puerto-ricos-killer-bees-stopped-killing-smithsonian-institution-2015/
This is a very beneficial finding, especially now, as we experience dwindling populations of the honeybee. A honeybee that is productive, more immune to disease, and most importantly non-aggressive. It could be the ideal honeybee.
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