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ARS Home Pacific West Area Tucson, Arizona Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Docs Africanized Honey Bees





- Africanized Honey Bee Overview
- Firefighters and Rescue Personnel
- Safety Precautions for Schools
- Africanized Bee Identification

Africanized Honey Bees **For more detailed information on honeybee safety and Africanization, please visit** Southern AZ Beekeepers website.The behavior, rather than the appearance, of the Africanized honey bee (AHB) setsthem apart from the European honey bee (EHB) in several significant ways:**1 . High Tendency to Swarm:** A group of bees that are in the process of leaving theirparent colony and starting a nest in a new location is called a "swarm." When the colonyswarms, a new queen is reared to stay with the parent colony and the old queen flies offwith the swarm. Scout bees often locate potential new nest sites prior to swarming, butthe swarm may spend a day or two clustered in impressive, large clumps hanging onbranches or in other temporary locations until the bees settle on a new nesting site. Ifthey can't find a suitable location, the bees may fly several miles and cluster again.Swarms that are exposed like this are vulnerable and will typically leave within 24-48hours.Typically an EHB colony will swarm once every 12 months. However, the AHB colonymay swarm as often as every six weeks during swarm season and can produce multipleseparate swarms each time.Swarms are generally docile regardless of type. This is because the swarm has noresources (brood, queen, food) to protect. They can actually be quite vulnerable duringthe swarming process, as they are without the protection of a home. Africanized honeybees do not fly out in angry swarms to randomly attack unlucky victims. Stingingincidents by Africhoneybees occur when the actual nest sight, not the swarm, isdisturbed.**2. Less Selective Nesting Sites:** The AHB is far less selective about what it calls homeand will occupy a much smaller space than the EHB. AHB nesting locations includewater meter boxes, metal utility poles, cement blocks, junk piles, house eaves, hollowtree limbs, overturned flower pots, old tires, mobile home skirts, and abandonedstructures. When the AHB colony outgrows its nesting site, it will simply swarm and finda new one.**3. Highly Defensive Behavior:** AHBs can become highly defensive in order to protecttheir hive. Defensive behavior can vary from mild to severe. The defensive responsetime is much quicker than in EHBs and it takes far less stimulus (auditory, olfactory,physical) to agitate an AHB colony than an EHB colony. A good safety precaution is tomaintain at least 100 feet, or the width of a four-lane highway, from any AHB hive.It is always advisable to exercise caution with respect to all bee activity, whether inmanaged or feral hives.


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