Lesson 16: Africanized Honey Bees
What makes them different, how to stay safe, and what beekeepers can do
You've probably heard of "killer bees." The real name is Africanized honey bees, and while the nickname is overblown, the bees are genuinely more defensive than the European honey bees beekeepers keep. Every beekeeper should know the basics, especially in the southern United States.
What they are
The honey bees kept in North America are a mix of European races (lesson 15). In the late 1950s, an African race of honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata (native to sub-Saharan Africa), was brought to Brazil. It escaped, spread northward through South and Central America and Mexico, and began colonizing parts of the southern United States in the 1990s.
"Africanized honey bee" (AHB) is the common name for these African bees and their hybrids with European bees. Scientists note that the bees spreading through the Americas stayed very close to the original African bee.
You can't tell them apart by looking
Africanized bees look almost exactly like European honey bees. European bees are slightly larger, but the difference is too small to see. Labs identify them by measuring wings and body parts or by genetic testing. What sets Africanized bees apart is their behavior.
How their behavior differs
1. Much more defensive. Africanized colonies react faster, to much less disturbance (noise, smell, vibration, movement), and more bees join the defense. Stinging incidents happen when the nest is disturbed. A good safety distance from a known Africanized colony is at least 100 feet, about the width of a four-lane highway.
2. Swarm far more often. A European colony typically swarms about once a year. An Africanized colony can swarm as often as every six weeks during swarm season, sometimes sending out several swarms at a time, and often outside the normal European swarm season. Their swarms tend to be smaller.
3. Nest almost anywhere, in small spaces. Water meter boxes, utility poles, cement blocks, junk piles, eaves, hollow limbs, overturned flower pots, old tires, mobile-home skirting and abandoned buildings.
Swarms themselves are generally gentle, Africanized or not. A swarm has no home, brood or stores to defend. Africanized bees don't fly around in angry swarms attacking people; problems come from disturbing an established nest.
A risk to beekeepers: takeovers
An Africanized swarm can invade a European colony and replace its queen with an Africanized queen. This is called usurpation. The colony then gradually becomes Africanized and more defensive. This is one reason beekeepers in affected areas watch for colonies that suddenly turn "hot" (unusually defensive).
What beekeepers can do
- Buy queens and bees from reputable suppliers of gentle European stock (lesson 25).
- Requeen colonies that become unusually defensive or have a suspicious queen with a European queen from a reputable source (lesson 45). Agricultural authorities in affected states recommend this.
- Be careful with swarms and feral nests. Catching swarms is a common way to get bees (lesson 29), but in areas with Africanized bees a swarm could be Africanized.
- Follow your state's rules; many states include Africanized bees in their bee laws (lesson 4).
Staying safe around any bees
The advice from lesson 2 applies: stay away from unknown bee nests, don't disturb them, keep pets and children away, and don't try to remove wild colonies yourself. If you're chased, run to a car or building, cover your face, and call 911 for a serious stinging attack.
📍 Georgia
This insert is shown to customers in Georgia.
Africanized bees are specifically named in Georgia's bee law. The Commissioner of Agriculture has broad power to deal with Africanized bees as well as bee diseases, and may inspect bees and equipment to check whether bees "have become Africanized." If bees are found to be Africanized, the Commissioner may require them to be treated or destroyed (lesson 4).
Anyone selling bees or queens as a business in Georgia must be licensed, and those bees are inspected every year, one more reason to buy from a licensed Georgia supplier.
For current information on Africanized bees in Georgia, contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Apiary Program.
What to remember
- Africanized honey bees came from an African race brought to Brazil in the late 1950s and reached the southern U.S. in the 1990s.
- They look like European bees; their behavior differs: far more defensive, swarm more often, nest almost anywhere.
- Swarms are generally gentle; stinging incidents happen when a nest is disturbed.
- Beekeepers protect themselves by buying gentle stock from reputable sources and requeening "hot" colonies.
Quick check
- How can you tell an Africanized bee from a European bee by looking?
- Name two behaviors that set Africanized bees apart.
- What's usurpation, and what can a beekeeper do about it?
Show answers
1. You can't, reliably; only lab measurement or genetic testing can. 2. Any two of: highly defensive with a fast, large response; swarming much more often; nesting in small, odd places. 3. An Africanized swarm taking over a European colony and replacing its queen; requeen with a European queen from a reputable supplier.
Adapted from: USDA Agricultural Research Service, Africanized Honey Bees Overview and Bee Safety (Carl Hayden Bee Research Center); UF/IFAS Extension, European Honey Bee (EENY568/IN1005) and Swarm Control for Managed Beehives (ENY-160/IN970); UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: Races of Honey Bees; Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Bee Law (O.C.G.A. §§ 2-14-40 to 2-14-47) and Apiary Program: Honeybees.
Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.