"Dangerous Things": A Symbolic Domain for Killer Bees

Viewing usage of words in culture as key symbols, Sherry B. Ortner\´s indicators were applied to an analysis of the lay-public\´s use of "killer bee", "Africanized Honey Bee", and "honey bee". While conducting social impact study in southern Nevada, the author noticed that informants were not associating "killer bee" with "honey bee" imagery. Interviews were conducted with residents in the community of Boulder City, Nevada focusing upon symbolic linkage between the expressions: honey bee, killer bee and Africanized Honey Bee. It was determined that people do not link these expressions together in the same symbolic domain. Ethnohistory of the human/bee relationship was presented to show how human cultures have conceptualized and prized honey bees over time. Further, this article is an examination of why separate symbolic domains are established for different categorical meanings applied to honey bees.