‘Killer Beer’ taps secret ingredient from a surprising source

It’s un-bee-lievable.

Science’s latest and greatest breakthrough is using killer honeybees for a real stinger of a beer recipe.

When microbiologists from Cardiff University in Wales went abroad to Namibia for a project on sustainability, they encountered the insects — the Africanised “killer” honey bee, to be exact — and discovered that the insects contained a useable yeast for a craft brew.

“When we got back to Cardiff, we used the isolated killer bee brewers yeast, along with yeast from Welsh honey bees, to make several batches of beer,” professor Les Baillie told The BBC, adding that it was taken from deceased bees that died naturally.

Thus, the “Killer Bee Beer” was born.

Now, Baillie and the team are searching for a brewery with whom to collaborate to have their ale take flight.

While it seems fun on the surface, it also calls attention to their local “Pharmabees project” that monitors hives in the Cardiff area for pharmaceutical exploration — especially in treating antibiotic resistance and, fittingly, superbugs.

Proceeds from the proposed beer would go toward the research.

“Our ‘Killer Bee Beer’ is a fun side project to our wider Pharmabees studies,” said Baillie of the brew that would likely give the drinker a good buzzzzz.

“[It] also broadens the understanding of bees at a microbiological level.”