Africanized Honey Bees (AHBs), often called “killer bees,” are a hybrid population of the western honey bee. This hybrid resulted from the interbreeding of the African honey bee subspecies, Apis mellifera scutellata, with European honey bee subspecies in South America during the 1950s. The term “Africanized” describes their mixed genetic heritage, though they retain the distinct behavioral traits of their African ancestors. The real distinction lies not in their appearance but in their actions.
Identifying Physical Characteristics
Africanized Honey Bees (AHBs) are visually almost identical to the common European Honey Bees (EHBs). They possess the typical honey bee body shape: a fuzzy, yellowish-brown thorax and a striped abdomen. To the unaided eye, there is no reliable way to tell them apart. AHBs are approximately 10% smaller than their European counterparts, a difference too minor to notice in the field. Their general appearance, including color and size, is not a reliable indicator of whether a bee is Africanized.
Why Visual Identification Is Impossible for the Layperson
Relying on visual identification is impossible because the overlap with European bees is nearly complete. Even trained beekeepers cannot definitively distinguish the two in the field; confirmation requires specialized laboratory analysis. The primary scientific method used is morphometrics, which involves the precise measurement of various body parts. Scientists measure minute characteristics, such as the length of specific wing veins, to determine the bee’s lineage using statistical analyses. Genetic analysis, or DNA testing, is a more definitive method that traces the bee’s maternal lineage to the African subspecies. These techniques are essential because the difference between AHBs and EHBs lies in subtle morphology and genetic markers. Without these tools, any visual identification is merely a guess, highlighting why behavior is the only practical field indicator.
The Key Differences in Colony Behavior
The most significant difference between AHBs and EHBs is the colony’s heightened defensive behavior. Africanized bees have a much lower threshold for disturbance and react faster and more intensely to perceived threats. They deploy hundreds of guard bees to sting, compared to the 10 to 20 bees a typical European colony might deploy. These hybrids defend a much larger area around their nest, sometimes attacking anything within 50 to 150 feet. Once agitated, they may remain defensive for days and pursue a threat for hundreds of feet.
Africanized colonies also exhibit different nesting and swarming patterns. They tend to swarm much more frequently, sometimes more than ten times a year, compared to the one or two times for European colonies. This frequent swarming means their colonies are often smaller, allowing them to nest in less selective, smaller cavities. They utilize spaces like water meter boxes, old tires, or holes in the ground. This difference in nesting preference often brings them into closer contact with humans, increasing the likelihood of defensive encounters.