Killer bees are aggressive by nurture, not just by nature

In a matter of just three decades, Puerto Rican honey bees have somehow become less aggressive and much more gentle than their "killer bee" predecessors.  A new study may help to unravel this mystery, showing that aggressive behavior among honey bees is primarily influenced by the genetic traits of the hive as a whole, rather than by the DNA of individual bees. Study co-lead author Matthew Hudson is a professor of Bioinformatics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "We've always thought that the most significant aspects of …