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Killer Bees Making Super Coffee

Posted by michael on from the nobody-tell-thinkgeek dept.

inblosam writes "An article at cnn.com describes how a insect-pollinated coffee bean plant actually has an increased yield, by 50 percent or more, when a killer bee does the pollination. The gene mixing allows for better gene selection, making better and bigger beans. Way to go killer bees. If the bees don't kill you, the gallons of coffee may." I guess I don't understand why it matters that it's a killer bee versus a regular bee. Maybe the killer bees travel farther, mixing up the pollen better?

1 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yield 50% improved by ANY insect by realgone · · Score: 5, Funny
    Any other insect would do just as well, but a headline with "Killer Bees" in the title will grab a lot more attention

    I'll admit that, for a minute, I thought you were pulling my leg. But I went ahead and dropped "killer bees" into the last five Slashdot headlines and damned if they didn't seem more exciting all of a sudden.

    • Visual Studio .Net: Now with more Killer Bees
    • Science: Killer Bees Making Super Coffee (well, that one was fine as was...)
    • Java Meets Killer Bees: Two Reviews (nice bit of serendipity there)
    • Walmart Ships PCs With Killer Bees
    • McAfee Manufactures Killer Bee Threat
    I swear, there's some definite potential here...