Story highlights Africa's bees tend to be more aggressive than their European, American counterparts

Their aggression also makes them more productive and resilient

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) Africanized bees, known as "killer bees," once gained notoriety in the United States for swarming and killing.

But while Africa's bees tend to be more aggressive than their European or American counterparts, their aggression also makes them more productive and resilient.

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi is working to utilize the African bee and its aggression to the continent's advantage.

"We have found in our previous studies that bees in Africa are a bit resistant, they are resilient to the bee pests," said Dr. Suresh Raina, the principal research scientist at the ICIPE's African Reference Laboratory for Bee Health.

He calls the quality a "novel resistance mechanism," and his team is selectively breeding bees that exhibit this quality to create a strong base of bees in Africa.

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