FORMA_STORY10 | QuestionPro

The entomologist had contemplated the hazards of working with this lethal strain of honeybee. Imported from Africa, these bees were high-strung and aggressive, quick to incite the entire colony when antagonized. Their excitability often provoked them to mass attacks that resulted in fatalities. Yet they pro¬duced extravagant quantities of honey, sometimes double that of their more docile European cousins. By crossing African queens with the local European drones, the entomologist planned to stimulate honey output. He had taken precautions to prevent catastrophes by locating the experimental hives in a sparsely populated area and erecting grids that curtailed the bees' range. But as the entomologist detached a grid for a routine check of his wards, he absent-mindedly crushed a stray worker. Instantaneously the murmur from the hive was amplified. A few sentinels emerged, pelting against his veil in admonition. Then the torrent broke. In a furor the swarm converged on their keeper.