What Are Africanized Honey Bees?
Africanized honey bees (sometimes sensationalized as ‚”killer bees‚”) are a type of honey bee that has migrated from South America into some of the lower United States. The only honey bees found in both North and South America prior to 1956 were European honey bees. These were brought to the New World in the late 1500s. So really, honey bees, are not native to the Americas. As the name suggests, European honey bees are native to Europe and are adapted to temperate climates.
In 1956, some honey bees were imported from Africa to Brazil as part of a breeding experiment to produce a honey bee that would be well adapted to tropical areas. Some of those African bees escaped from their apiaries and crossbred with the populations of gentle European bees found in Brazil. The resulting cross between those bees is the Africanized honey bee, or AHB, which retained the highly defensive, unwelcome, stinging behavior of the African strain.
Do Africanized honey bees look different from regular honey bees?
AHB are closely related to European bees, and detailed diagnostic techniques must be used in a laboratory to identify them.
In reality, the common European bee is slightly larger than the AHB.
Isn‚’t one sting by an Africanized honey bee fatal to a human?
No. There is very little difference between the venom and sting of an AHB as compared to the European honey bee. The venom from any honey bee may cause swelling, irritation, and temporary pain, but it is usually not fatal unless the person stung is allergic to honey bees. A small percentage of humans are allergic to various insect stings, and for those individuals one sting may result in death if prompt medical attention is not received. The danger from Africanized honey bees arises from the greater likelihood of receiving numerous stings from attacking bees.
Just how dangerous are Africanized honey bees to the general populous?
When a hive is disturbed or threatened, the Africanized honey bee is far more defensive than the European bee and their attack-and-sting response is much more aggressive. This defensiveness, however, is only a problem in certain cases. Swarm clusters and individual Africanized honey bees foraging on flower blossoms are really no more dangerous than European bees. The defensiveness becomes a problem only when you near a nest or hive. Reported deaths have been limited to situations in which animals or humans have disturbed an established hive.
What can beekeepers do about Africanized honey bees?
First, it is important to note that US beekeepers are not responsible for the AHB situation and don‚’t want the bees here either. Second, beekeepers are the primary resource against the AHB. Many in the beekeeping community are working diligently on methods to keep the AHB populations low and reduce the aggressive nature of the bees.
Just how vital is beekeeping to the United States?
The primary value of honey bees to the nation‚’s economy is crop pollination, not honey production. There are at least 90 crops with a value of $20 billion that benefit from the pollination of bees in the US alone. In some states, the commercial production of such crops as cucumbers, apples, watermelons, squash, and berries would not be possible without honey bees.
