The Truth About Africanized Bees

When I witnessed an AWESOME swarm during an Earth Day Festival, the first question people asked me was, "Are they Africanized bees?"  I felt it necessary to help educate on the history and truth about "Africanized" bees that are frequently called "killer" bees.

First, "in 1956, some colonies of African Honey Bees were imported into Brazil, with the idea of cross-breeding them with local populations of Honey Bees to increase honey production." These were honey bees that beekeepers on the African continent kept. Often, such bees were utilized on family farms for pollination and to deter elephants from trampling the family's crops. In other words, beekeepers kept them, worked with them, and harvested from them.
Then, these "experimental" bees escaped and bred with the more docile European bees. A hybridized bee was born. "These African bee escapees have since formed hybrid populations with European Honey Bees, both feral and from commercial hives" and have spread over most of the Southern United States.
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The truth is, "The typical Africanized bee in California has a genome made up of 70 to 80 percent African genes and only 20 to 30 percent European genes, he added....right now, most of California's Africanized bees are feral." Up to 70% of San Diego county's feral bees have a percentage of African genes.
The best Earth Day Celebration is one where the bees join the party!  These pictures were taken during a swarm removal at the Cucamonga Valley Water District at the 2016 Earth Day Celebration."
However, that also means that they have up to 90% of European genes.  The dilution of genetics has contributed to bees with Africanized genetics to become docile over time.  They CAN and SHOULD be given a chance if a beekeeper specializing in feral bees decides they are manageable.

What does the San Bernardino County Dept. of Public Health recommend?  The safe rescue and relocation of feral colonies versus extermination when possible.  

Schedule us a meeting with your HOA and we will present this information to them.  We specialize in rescuing feral colonies here in Southern California.  Help us SAVE THE BEES!WE RESCUE FERAL COLONIES! - (909) 660-3072​
Gentle Africanized bees on an oceanic island - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2012.00252.x/f
San Bernardino County Africanized Honey Bees Fact Sheet - http://www.sbcounty.gov/uploads/dph/dehs/depts/vectorcontrol/AfricanizedHoneyBees.pdf
Range and Frequency of Africanized Honey Bees in California (USA) - http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0137407
Are Killer Africanized Bees Really That Dangerous? - http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151123-are-killer-africanized-bees-really-that-dangerous

The Real Problem?

  • "Most beekeepers prefer European honeybees because Africanized bees are so much more difficult to manage."
  • "Africanized Honey Bees (=Killer Bees) are dangerous because they attack intruders in numbers much greater than European Honey Bees."​
Gone are the days that beekeepers can work their hives shirtless and gloveless; now they need to wear suits with gloves. Beekeepers had to re-adjust their practices and learn how to work with these more defensive honeybees that were spreading across the continent and out performing the European honey bees.

In addition, feral bees may be likely to abscond and leave the hive more than their European bred counterparts. This means that feral bee removers are not guaranteed years of honey production from the bees they gather. This is also why commercial beekeepers still prefer to use the European bred bees which need chemical treatments to resist disease. (This is still being researched.)
Feral hives must be shown more respect and need removal to be managed by beekeepers as large colonies in walls can get disrupted by vibrations such as lawnmowers and intruders such as rats which will make them grouchy.  We now need to show bees greater respect.

Thankfully they usually only chase the intruder if there is brood present (swarms do not have brood).  Foraging and swarming bees are still docile and they usually leave you alone if you are near the hive, but are not intruding. African bee sting cases can become very serious, but they remain relatively rare.

Defensive behavior is based on the percentage of how many African genes the colony has. Feral colonies could only be 10% Africanized and 90% European and still be the sweetest bees. Then there are colonies that even beekeepers can not manage and the worst must happen. This is the same with stray animals of any sort.

​Yet, these very "Africanized" bees that people are terrified of may save the entire species in North America. Why?

Well, many beekeepers are willing to manage these bees and "considers it a possibility that tropical honey bees are a blessing to beekeepers and honey producers. Currently, colony collapse disorder is decimating many temperate European honey bee colonies. Tropical honey bees, however, are flourishing."

Why? "Africanized bees ... appear to be more resistant to certain diseases and parasites compared to European bees, Kohn said. In fact, there are many studies that back up this claim. One study, published in 2010 in the journal Experimental and Applied Acarology, found that Africanized bees may be more resistant to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor (an insidious foe inside bee colonies) because of the bees' grooming behaviors and the lowered fertility of the mites inside the brood, or honeycomb of the Africanized hive."
Since they are more resistant and flourish without treatments, chemicals are unnecessary to keep them healthy. This is overall better for their long term survival, better for the environment, cheaper for the beekeeper, and better for bellies since they tend to produce more honey as well. They may be the very bees to save the species from becoming endangered as other bee species have.

Yet, the following is the public policy of the CA State Beekeepers Association:  "In the interest of public safety, CSBA policy is to eradicate feral swarms in known Africanized Honey Bee areas."  That would mean that ALL feral colonies in Southern California would need to be eradicated! 
Instead, treatment free beekeepers monitor the behavior of feral colonies removed with the "Live Bee Removal and Relocation Best Practices" adopted by many beekeepers in Southern California.

So, rather than be afraid, call a treatment free beekeeper that handles heritage feral bees, for removal.  It is in our best interest as a species to save them and allow them to be monitored for behavior and placed in locations accordingly.

So, if you ask me if those wild bees are Africanized, you may get a lengthy answer, but the short answer is: they have a 70% chance of having at least 10% of Africanized genes.  That also means that they have over a 90% chance of being manageable.
Resources:
Pynes dispels many ‘killer bee’ myths
http://www.redrocknews.com/…/21331-pynes-dispels-many-kille…
California's Killer Bees Are Spreading North. http://m.livescience.com/52153-africanized-bees-spreading-n…
Smithsonian https://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/killbee.htm
​San Bernardino County Africanized Honey Bees Fact Sheet - http://www.sbcounty.gov/uploads/dph/dehs/depts/vectorcontrol/AfricanizedHoneyBees.pdf
Range and Frequency of Africanized Honey Bees in California (USA) - http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0137407
Are Killer Africanized Bees Really That Dangerous? - http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151123-are-killer-africanized-bees-really-that-dangerous