The
term "killer bee" refers to a strain of highly
aggressive honey bee originally collected in Africa
in the 1950's and brought to Brazil for research
purposes. Years later the African strain bee
colonies were accidentally released from the
research apiary and multiplied rapidly in the
tropical climate of central Brazil around the
facility.
Where do killer bees
occur in the US?
Since their accidental
release the African strain has breed with native
strains producing an "Africanized" strain of
aggressive and highly territorial bees. Africanized
bee colonies have slowly displaced native honey bees
wherever they occur together. Africanized bee
colonies have moved steadily north eventually
reaching the southwestern US in the 1990's. They now
occur throughout the southwestern US from southern
California, Nevada, Arizona, southern
New Mexico, southwest Texas and as far
east as southern Florida. New Africanized
hives are found further north each year.
Identification of
Africanized honey bees
In the US, our native
honey bee is actually a strain that originated in
Europe and hence is called the European
honey bee (Apis
mellifera). Africanized honey bees are the
same species and are nearly identical to their
European cousins. It takes an expert and a
microscope to tell the two bees apart. What
distinguishes European from African strains is their
behavior. The African strain, and Africanized
colonies, exhibit extreme aggression when the hive
is disturbed. The European strain is much, much less
aggressive in defense of the hive.
