Africanized Honey Bees, often called “killer bees,” are a hybrid of the East African lowland honey bee (Apis mellifera scutellata) and various European honey bee subspecies. This hybrid emerged accidentally in Brazil in 1957 when 26 swarms escaped an experimental breeding program. Since their escape, Africanized Honey Bees have spread throughout the Americas, reaching North America in 1985 and the southern United States by the early 1990s. Visually distinguishing these bees from European honey bees is extremely difficult for the average person.
The Challenge of Visual Identification
Visually identifying Africanized Honey Bees (AHBs) from their European counterparts presents a significant challenge because they are nearly identical in appearance. Both types of bees share a golden yellow color with darker brown bands. AHBs are slightly smaller than European honey bees, but this difference is subtle and cannot be discerned with the naked eye. Even experienced beekeepers cannot reliably tell them apart by sight alone.
Minute physical differences, such as slight variations in wing vein patterns, exist between AHBs and European honey bees. However, these distinctions require specialized laboratory analysis, known as morphometrics, for accurate identification. Morphometric analysis involves precise measurements of various body parts, including wings and legs, and necessitates professional measuring instruments. Techniques like the Fast African Bee Identification System (FABIS) or geometric morphometrics analysis, which uses digital images of wings, are employed by experts to achieve over 99% correct identifications.
Behavioral Clues and Expert Identification
Given the difficulty of visual identification, the primary way to suspect the presence of Africanized Honey Bees (AHBs) is by observing their distinct behavioral patterns. AHBs are known for their highly defensive nature, reacting faster and more aggressively to disturbances than European honey bees. If a colony is agitated, AHBs may send out hundreds of bees to defend a much larger area, sometimes pursuing threats for up to a quarter mile or further. They are also more prone to frequent swarming and tend to nest in unconventional locations, such as water meter boxes, old tires, or holes in the ground.
These behavioral indicators, such as rapid response to threats, aggressive pursuit, and frequent swarming, serve as important clues for trained professionals. However, behavioral observations alone do not provide definitive identification. The only conclusive methods for identifying Africanized Honey Bees involve laboratory analysis. This includes detailed morphometric analysis, which examines physical characteristics, or genetic testing, which analyzes mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to determine the proportion of African ancestry in the bees. If a suspicious hive is encountered, contact local authorities or pest control professionals for proper assessment and management.