”HITCH-HIKING” northwards by road and sea, bad-tempered descendants of South African queen bees that were brought to Brazil nearly half a century ago have begun arriving in Canada, says apiculturist Mehat Nasr of Guelph University, near Toronto. The ”Africanized killer bees,” as they are called, invaded and colonised the south western US over the past 10 years, killing five people so far. Last month, a swarm hitch-hiked thousands of kilometres by lorry, turned up in the Washington area, promptly stung a goat there to death and sent four people to hospital. Until now, it was thought they would shun Canada’s colder climate. But swarms have been sighted on the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 5 500 km apart. Nasr believes they travel by sea as well as road transport. South African queen bees were brought to Brazil’s Sao Paulo University for studies in 1956. They escaped, mated with their local cousins, spread and killed at least 1 000 people before reaching the US through Mexico. Unlike regular honey bees that sting one at a time, the smaller but much more aggressive Africanized killers attack in swarms, often for no apparent reason, pursuing their victims for hundreds of metres, until they drop. – Reuters