News From the Field

Genomic study explores evolution of gentle 'killer bees' in Puerto Rico


November 16, 2017

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A study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honeybees -- which are more docile than other so-called "killer bees" -- shows they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honeybee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of European honeybees. These changes likely contributed to the bees' rapid evolution toward gentleness in Puerto Rico, a change that occurred within 30 years, and could spell hope for beekeeping in North America.Full Story

Source
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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