ONCE A YEAR, PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY OF EL ROSARIO IN THE PROVINCE OF HUILA, COLOMBIA GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO COLLECT HONEY FROM THE NOTORIOUS “KILLER BEE”.

In the ’50s, Dr. Warwick Estevam Kerr was asked by the government of Brazil to introduce a type of bee to replace the badly performing European honey bees. Dr. Warwick Estevam Kerr brought over some African honey bees Apis mellifera scutellate, that would be more productive in a tropical climate. Fortunate for the bees, and less unfortunate for Dr. Warwick Estevam Kerr, the story goes that 26 bees escaped and went on to conquer everything between 34° latitude North and 32° latitude South. Being a defensive swarming species gave the African honey bee its edge over its badly performing European cousin. Making it quite a task to harvest this “liquid gold”.