Africanized Honey Bee Characteristics

Africanized honey bees first appeared in the Americas by ship from Africa, hence the name given to the non-native bee. The Africanized honey bee species is a hybrid of the African honey bee and the European honey bee. European honey bees are considered the "wild" species of bees found in the Americas and Europe. There are no physical differences between full European and hybrid Africanized honey bees discernible to the naked eye.

  1. Habitat Adaptation

    • Africanized honey bees can adapt their behavior and foraging habits to many different habitats. The non-native species put more stock into collecting pollen for food and do not hoard honey like the European species. Once the bees are adults, the opportunistic Africanized species have an increased survival rate and natural resistance against mites. This is because the hybrid bees are opportunistic eaters and colonies move around frequently.

    Swarm Behavior

    • Honey bees do not always swarm to sting a perceived threat. Both European honey bees and Africanized honey bees swarm when the colony is looking for a new queen bee or moving to a new nest location with better resources. Africanized honey bees, though, act nomadically to the natural cues. Africanized honey bees may take over a nest of European honey bees if the bees perceive the European nest is better situated near food. The Africanized drone bees will do this by installing a new Africanized queen or inseminating the European queen bee.

    Absconding

    • When Africanized colonies abscond, bees swarm and leave the nest with the queen and relocate to another place. Africanized honey bees will settle in less desirable locations where nectar and pollen sources are low because the species can adapt easily to varied conditions. Africanized honey bees are thought to be better pollinators of flora and crops than the European variety because of how often and far the species forages for its food. If and when resources are low, Africanized colonies move again readily.

    Sperm Advantages

    • Africanized honey bees are the genetically dominant honey bee species, and a honey bee with any percent of Africanized characteristics is considered evolutionarily superior. An Africanized bee's sperm is preferred by both European honey bee and Africanized honey bee queens, producing more hybridized bees. After insemination, both full and hybrid Africanized honey bees emerge earlier from eggs and mature faster into adults.

    Provoked Behavior

    • Africanized honey bees are more fiercely defensive of the nest than the European species. Africanized honey bees detect a person or animal around the nest at about 50 feet away and detect machinery about 100 feet away. Many members of the species will sting and follow a perceived threat nearly a quarter-mile away from the nest. The defensive attack behavior of Africanized honey bees to a nest threat gave the species its "killer bee" reputation. The Africanized species will sting only once and die afterward. Despite the bee's reputation, there have been very few recorded deaths caused by Africanized honey bee attacks.