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Team Number: 055
School Name: Cuba High School
Area of Science: Environmental Science
Project Title: The Tracking of African Honey Bees Over the Years
Challenge Team Interim Report
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Team Number: 055 School Name: Cuba High School Area of Science: Environmental Science Project Title: The Tracking of African Honey Bees Over the Years |
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Problem Definition:
African honeybees are Bees that have been migrating over the southern part of the United States for 35 years. It all started in the 1950's, when Brazilian scientists began to construct a project to try to get African honeybees to cross breed with gentler types of Bees to produce more honey. It all started when Africans began to import African honeybees to Mexico about 40 years ago. . Then in South America the scientist there began to construct an experiment to try to get African honeybees to cross breed with calmer gentler types of honeybees. The reason that they were trying to construct such a experiment was because African Honey Bees were known to produce more honey than a original honey bee. The main person that tried to construct the experiment was Warrick Kurr. He was trying to create a "Super Bee."
Since then the African killer bees have been continuing a to spread. By August 1995, Africanized honeybees have colonized some of the southern part of the United States. The bees have not been known to spread south of Buenos Aries. But they have been moving north at a rate of I 00 to 300 miles per year (160 to 480 km/yr.). They are known to have spread in the lower Ro Grand Valley of Texas in in October 1990 and have spread across much of the south and West Texas. They are also located in the southern part of New Mexico. They are located in Puerto Rico and Blythe, California. Scientist believes that all of the bees in the Southern part of the United States will be Africanized. In 1990, the African honeybees have entered the United States from Mexico though the state of Texas. Then in 1993, they entered from Mexico then entered Arizona. Next from Arizona and Texas they entered New Mexico. Finally in 1994, from Arizona to California. African Honeybees are now located in areas such as San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties.
Problem Solution:
We estimated the time that it would take and it would take the bees about 50 years to have migrated across the United States and mix breed with other bees in the U.S. By the time that the bees have also gone across the U.S. they would have interbreed with all the bees in the U.S.
First discovery; of Africanized bees by state:
Texas October 1990 New Mexico October 1993 Arizona June 1993 California October 1994 Nevada April 1999
The bees have only killed very few people over the years. They have only killed 6 people. The people that were all killed were ranging from between 66 to 98 years of age. They were killed mainly in Texas, Arizona and California.
No. When Where Who How 1 August, 1993 Texas 82- yr, man 40 stings 2 June, 1994 Texas 98-yr, man 50 stings 3 October, 1995 Phoenix, AZ 88-yr, woman 1000 or more stings 4 October, 1995 Phoenix, AZ 66-yr, woman 66 stings 5 April, 1997 Casa Grande, AZ 72-yr., man ? 6 September, 1999 Long Beach, CA 83-yr, man 50 or less stings
Progress to Date: We have collected information on the Honeybees. We have seen the bees in the process where they are in the process of making a bee hive.
Expected Results: For the bees to be a little more aggressive.
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Project Advisor(s)