KILLER BEES
by Bianca Lavies & photographed by Bianca Lavies
Killer bees. One of those items on Nature's payroll that seems downright unfair. The African environment shaped a kind of bee with an aggressive protective instinct, conditioned to attack, en masse, threats to the hive. Some Brazilian beekeepers, wishing to invigorate their stock (the American variety of bees are relative wimps), imported the violence-prone African bees. Despite efforts to control the bees, some escaped. Multiplying rapidly, they are spreading north at a rate of about 200 miles a year. Lavies (Mangrove Wilderness, p. 559, etc.) does a yeoman's job of demystifying the killer bees, though the text can be mighty wooden at times. The good news is that these bees are not, individually, a great menace, and that simple precautions in their territory minimizes any risks. Informative, with close-up photos to interest kids. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 8-11)