The Africanized Honey Bee called 'Killer Bee' is generally from the public, a reaction which was promoted by sensationalist movies and exaggerated concern media reports. Although this bee much more aggressive than a European honey bee stings from Africanized kill bees people per year in the United States, which is a similar figure of wasps and European honey bee 1-2.
Killer bees are a mixture of African and European honey bee species and were accidentally in the ecosystem of a laboratory in Brazil in 1956, where scientists tried to create a strain of bee with improved honey production introduced.
Africanized Queens and thus escaped the colonies, swarmed and began to spread quickly throughout Central and South America. The first characters of the Africanized bees in the United States has been in October 1990, in the South of Texas. The bee then constantly throughout the southern part of the United States, where are mild winters and summers are very warm. Scientists and entomologists believe however that are Africanized bees now to adapt to the colder climates and roaming farther north to an average 2 miles per day. If this projection is, it could be a major problem for the European honey bee within the United States become and even Europe.
To identify a killer bee.
People are often surprised to learn that killer bees are in fact slightly smaller than the European bees. You are however virtually not from each other with the naked eye and precise identification only can be carried out microscopically.
The bee Africanized are as a result of a perceived threat excited ten times faster than a European bee. The latter remain to defend it if they feel closer to their hive is threatened, and most of the colony remains within and start working, to their honey stores, so that to see out of the threat to remove only a few guard bees. However Africanized bees their Beehive en masse will leave ' it, around the offender and inflicting bites so many give to chase for up to a quarter of a mile as possible and also probably defend. It is this pattern of behavior, the you called ' killer bees' has led. One of the main reasons why it is behavior, in an aggressive collective way that unlike the European honey bee focus is multiplied by not their honey stores, but their number. This is because they are originally adapted, in warm climates life where winter hibernation is not necessary and therefore the need not to occur a great honey shops. Because of this, they collect more pollen (necessary for growth in young) and as a result, pollinators are in fact better.
Nesting
European honey bees rarely nests on the ground or in exposed locations, while Africanized, build bees somewhere, they find a nest big enough, a hole is built to fit through and their nests are much smaller. If you can not find a suitable hidden location branches are nest is in the ground or in the tree. Africanized bees are often a European bee colony, which instead of the Queen with an own invade.
Rave
European honey bees swarming a - or twice a year, while the Africanized Honey Bees swarm ten times or more per year, so that they have much larger areas to settle. In addition the Africanized bees will completely give up or 'Escaping!' from their nests if environmental factors rarely ever completely leave a nest unfavorable, while European honey bee himself.
The future
Africanised are a work in progress bees effectively, as they continue with European bees to grow. Scientists and beekeepers however use now selective breeding programs to try to control and manage the problem. In particular, it is recognised that the African bee has many positive features, such as is more disease and pest than the European bee and is an active forager. Therefore, the end result may be less expensive as was once feared by selecting these trains in addition to trying to breed his aggressive.
