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African Honey Bees
Honey bees are among the most well-known and economically beneficial insects. Honey bees produce honey, pollen and beeswax and pollinate many valuable crops. In Georgia, a large segment of the beekeeping industry specializes in mass-producing bees for sale to other beekeepers. Although many people make a living from bees, most beekeepers are hobbyists with only a few hives. Honey Bees in the New World Honey bees are not native to the New World. Most New World honey bees are descendants of bees brought to North and South America by European settlers beginning in the 1600s. Bees from Europe flourished in North America, but they were poorly suited to the tropics of South America. Most areas of the United States today have high densities of both managed and "wild" European honey bee colonies. In most of South America, however, European honey bees do not prosper unless they are intensively managed by beekeepers. |
An African Bee Attack Experience
History of Africanized Honey Bees In 1956, researchers imported honey bees from Africa into Brazil in an effort to improve beekeeping in the New World tropics. These African bees were well suited to conditions in Brazil, and they began colonizing South America, hybridizing with European honey bees (hence the name "Africanized" honey bees) and displacing the European bees. Compared to docile European bees, Africanized honey bees are extremely defensive. Large numbers of them may sting people and livestock with little provocation. They also "take over" European colonies by entering them and killing the resident queen. Because of these bees' noxious behaviors, many beekeepers abandoned beekeeping and the media widely publicized these so-called "killer bees." The bees spread northward at a rate of 186 to 310 miles per year, and today every country in South and Central America has established populations of Africanized honey bees. If this type of research interests you an online MBA or some type of college degree could get you one the right path to getting involved. It might take a little more research on your side to figure where and how the correct path will fit your future. It could be as simple as getting a healthcare MBA, to understand what the effect of these bees on the world. Or you can even look in to some environmental MBA to understand the bees in their environment. |
Courtesy of BBC
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African honey bees reached the Brazilian wild in 1957 and then spread south and north until they officially reached the United States on October 19, 1990. They have since interbred with European honey bees, and because hybrid bees tend to exhibit many African honey bee traits while still retaining some European honey bee genes, the hybrid bees are referred to as Africanized honey bees. Honey bees, whether they are European, African, or Africanized, only sting defensively. However, Africanized honey bees are a concern to farmers and beekeepers because they are extremely protective of their hive and tend to be much more aggressive than European honey bees. This map layer (to your left) was compiled by the National Atlas of the United States® from information provided by the Agricultural Research Service. National Geographic Video About The African Bees >> |
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Map below shows where African Bees are as of 2011
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Download our African Bee Jig Saw Puzzle
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These are African Bees. This Photo was taken in South Africa and is courtesy of Zach's Bee Photos. You can't tell these Bees from other bees by just looking at them. |
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- Parts of this page were extracted from a compilation by Keith S. Delaplane, An Extension Entomologist -
© 1995-2011 Albert W. Needham
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