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.
