Africanized bee
noun
: a honeybee that originated in Brazil as an accidental hybrid between an aggressive African subspecies (Apis mellifera scutellata) and previously established European honeybees and has spread to Mexico and the southernmost U.S. by breeding with local bees producing populations retaining most of the African bee's traits
called also Africanized honeybee, killer bee
Examples of Africanized bee in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Florida is considered an Africanized bee state.
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Christine Sexton, sun-sentinel.com, 11 Aug. 2021
Christine Sexton, sun-sentinel.com, 11 Aug. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Africanized bee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Africanized bee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Africanized%20bee. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
Africanized bee
noun
Af·ri·can·ized bee
ˌaf-ri-kə-ˌnīzd- 
: a honeybee that originated in Brazil as an accidental hybrid between an aggressive African subspecies (Apis mellifera scutellata) and previously established European honeybees and has spread to Mexico and the southernmost United States by breeding with local bees producing populations retaining most of the African bee's traits
called also Africanized honeybee, killer bee
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