It sounds like science fiction. Africanized honeybees were bred in a lab. These hybrids were superior honey producers – but also proved ferocious toward perceived threats. They escaped quarantine in Brazil in 1957. By the 80s, they'd reached the United States.

There was alarm at their arrival. But africanized bees are now embedded in our natural environment, and our economy.

A majority of honeybees in West Texas are likely africanized. And, along with non-africanized honeybees, they're critical crop pollinators.

What sets africanized bees apart? What should we know about the risks they pose?

Africanized bee stings typically kill one or two a people a year. Our region hasn't bee...