Honey bees usually build their comb in a protected area or cavity with an access hole the size of a pencil eraser or larger. The elaborate exposed combs full of amber-colored honey they construct can be very beautiful. Africanized honey bees are far less selective than European honey bees about where they will set up a colony. They will occupy a much smaller space than the European honey bee. They also seem to prefer to nest closer to the ground.
Honey bees move from site to site by swarming .
A portion of the bees leave the colony with the old queen and take up residence in a new location. Africanized honey bees tend to swarm more often than European honey bees, and are also more likely to abscond. Bees typically abscond when they sense a threat to their colony or when foraging opportunities have almost been exhausted in the present location. Africanized honey bees have been selected over centuries to survive in areas where scarcity of resources is common and absconding is the only alternative if the colony is to survive.