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Copyright 2003 I-SAFE America
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Carlsbad, CA 92008
'Killer' Bees make Killer Coffee
The Buzz from Scientists: Bees improve flavor and crop yields
According to a CNN.COM SCi-Tech article by Marsha Walton in June of 2002, People who enjoy the tasty, eye-opening buzz they get from coffee, just might have a "killer" bee to thank.
Coffee plants (coffea arabica) are capable of self-pollination, so for a long time researchers did not think insects made much difference to the crop. However, studies now show that when Africanized bees (or killer bees) pollinate coffee plants, yields can increase by more than 50 percent. David Roubik, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, gives full details of the value of Killer bees to the coffee harvest in the June 2002 edition of the journal, Nature.
"When an insect, like the Africanized bee does the pollen transportation, there's a mixing of genes, a widening of the gene pool," said Roubik. "That gives every plant a greater potential to reproduce, and creates beans that are bigger and better tasting."
- African honeybees, often dubbed killer bees, were introduced to southern Brazil in 1956 in an effort to create a better honeybee.
- African honeybees bees have prospered and have colonized all of the tropical Americas.
- Their venom is not more toxic than common honeybees, but Africanized bees do gather in large numbers and travel long distances to hunt down intruders to their territory.
- Contrary to the beliefs of some, it usually takes hundreds of stings to kill a person or large animal.
- Coffee yields in some places, including Kenya and Indonesia, have fallen during the past half century, and Roubik's report points out that this may be because more intense farming has taken away habitat for potential pollinators such as the African honeybees.
- In the Caribbean, big coffee producers Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic have virtually no killer bees, and their coffee yields are only about half that of Central America and Mexico.
- Roubik's report also points out that by 1997, Killer bees had become major pollinators in Panama. And while they often get a bad rap for their aggressive behavior, farmers and beekeepers are beginning to realize the advantages of the insects, not only to the coffee crop, but to thousands of other species of flowering plants.
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The information contained in this article is intended for educational use. Copyright 2003 I-SAFE America
5963 La Place Ct. #309
Carlsbad, CA 92008