Africanized Bee
Qualities
- Tends to swarm more frequently and go farther than other types of honeybees.
- Is more likely to migrate as part of a seasonal response to lowered food supply.
- Is more likely to “abscond” — the entire colony leaves the hive and relocates — in response to stress
- Has greater defensiveness when in a resting swarm
- Lives more often in ground cavities than the European types
- Guards the hive aggressively, with a larger alarm zone around the hive.
- Has a higher proportion of “guard” bees within the hive.
- Deploys in greater numbers for defense and pursues perceived threats over much longer distances from the hive.
- Cannot survive extended periods of forage deprivation, preventing introduction into areas with harsh winters or extremely dry late summers.
Defense
Africanized bees are characterized by greater defensiveness in established hives than European honey bees. They are most likely to attack a perceived threat and, when they do so, attack relentlessly in larger numbers. This aggressively protective behavior has been termed by scientists as hyper-defensive behaviour. This defensiveness has earned them the nickname “killer bees,” the aptness of which is debated. Over the decades, several deaths in the Americas have been attributed to Africanized bees. The venom of an Africanized bee is no more potent than that of a normal honey bee, but since the former tends to sting in greater numbers, the number of deaths from them are greater than from the European honey bee.
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