![]() Beekeeping in South and Central America has since rebounded and commercial US beekeepers have had few issues. This created a fear-driven public health crisis and forced many beekeepers in South America out of business, but we now have a better understanding of Africanized honey bees’ defensive behavior and beekeeper’s coping mechanisms. As Africanized honey bees spread, more than 1000 people and tens-of-thousands of domestic animals were killed in stinging incidents (Breed et al 2004). Africanized honey bees (AHB) are now found throughout much of South, Central and southern North America, but may have reached an upper and lower limit to their spread at about the 34°N and 34°S latitude (Visscher et al 1997 Kerr et al 1982), based in part to their inability to survive extended cold periods (Taylor 2003 Villa et al 1991, 1993). In 1990 the much anticipated arrival of the original African bees’ descendants, now called Africanized honey bees or “killer bees” reached the southern US and in 2 years, had spread to Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Texas. By 1972, the US had taken notice and published a report of the impending problem. Although the spread of the African honey bee was quickly recognized in Brazil and Argentina, the first English language published accounts of problems with defensiveness of the African bees came in 1964 by Nogueira-Neto. lingustic) drones, and distributed these bees to beekeepers in southern Brazil (Kerr 1967). Kerr performed hybridization experiments, reared and artificially inseminated African queens with Italian honey bee (A. Although African bees were originally considered to be “accidentally released”, several studies including those published by Kerr (1967), do not uphold that view. Kerr described the colonies as “the most prolific, productive, and industrious bees.” His intention was to breed a race of honey bee that would be more adapted to the tropical climate of South America than the temperate climate adapted European races of honey bee. The African honey bee ( Apis mellifera scutellata) was introduced from the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa to the eucalyptus forests of São Paulo Brazil by Professor Warwick E. What you need to know to protect yourself and your bees.Īuthors: Philip Moore, Michael Wilson, John Skinnerĭepartment of Entomology and Plant Pathology, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN
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