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This hasn't gone well in the past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee
by empath75 9y ago
This hasn't gone well in the past:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee
- 24gttghh 9y agoI didn't get any indication from the article that these Blue Orchard bee's are being cross-bred, or genetically engineered. They're just being mass-bred in a controlled manner to get the volume necessary to start supplementing Honey Bee use. Edit: It seems that the Afro/Euro hybrid bees are hardier and produce way more honey than the European bees as well, so I would expect to see more of them being used commercially.
- talideon 9y agoExcept the hybrid bees are notoriously aggressive, which is why they're useless commercially. Part of the reason European bees are so useful commercially is that they're quite docile.
- logfromblammo 9y agoEuropean honeybees and African honeybees are the same species. There are six different species of mason bee cultivated for agricultural use, and hundreds of wild species. As they are solitary, any hybridization would result in less than 20 hybrid offspring per female, rather than hybridizing an entire hive. In any case, mason bees are solitary, and have no particular reason to be aggressive towards other animals, as they have no hives to protect.