Africanized Honeybee

Scientific name: Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier

Common names: Africanized honeybee, African honey bee, killer bee

Native To: Originally from Africa; first hybridized in South America

Date of U.S. Introduction: 1990, first found in southern Texas

Images: Invasive.org and Google

Video: Killer Bees! (or click Play button below)

Means of Introduction: Imported and bred with European honey bees to increase honey production

Impact: More aggressive than European honeybees; negative impact on honey production industry

Current U.S. Distribution:

• National Agricultural Pest Information System - Pest Tracker - Reported Status
• Spread of Africanized Honey bees by year, by county

Management Plans: Animals / Africanized Honey Bee

Selected Internet Resources:

• Federal Government
• State Government
• University/Academic
• International
• Organizations

What's Bussing with Africanized Honey Bees?
DOI. National Atlas of the United States.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Impacts; Distribution; Controls; Research

Africanized Honey Bees (PDF | 51 KB)
DOI. Saguaro National Park.
Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Habitat

Killer Bees - Encyclopedia Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photograph; Impacts; Distribution; Controls

Africanized Honey Bees
United States Army. Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. Entomological Sciences Program.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution; Research

The African(ized) Queen: New Twist Found To Hive Drama (May 23, 2000)
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution; Controls; Research

Africanized Honeybee Research - TEKTRAN database
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Research

Africanized Honey Bee
USDA. APHIS. Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. National Agricultural Pest Information System.
Photographs; Distribution; Special Note: Links to other sites

Africanized Honey Bees in Arizona
USDA. ARS. Carl Hayden Bee Research Center.
Research

Apis mellifera scutellata Article Citation Search - AGRICOLA Database
USDA. National Agricultural Library.
Research; Special Note: NAL Catalog Search (resources)

Arkansas Honey Bees & Africanized Honey Bees
Arkansas State Plant Board.
Introduction History; Photographs; Impacts; Controls; Distribution

Africanized Honeybee Pest Profile
California Department of Food and Agriculture. Pest Detection/Emergency Projects Branch.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Life Cycle

Africanized Honey Bee (AHB)
State of California. Los Angeles County. Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures.
Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution

Bee Alert: Africanized Honey Bee Facts
State of California. City of Los Angeles.
Impacts; Special Note: Contacts

Honey Bees in Los Angeles
State of California. Los Angeles County West Vector and Vector-Borne Control District.
Introduction History; Life Cycle; Distribution

Africanized Honey Bees (2006; PDF | 20 KB)
State of California. Orange County Vector Control District.
Illustrations; Impacts; Distribution; Controls; Special Note: Contacts, How to Bee Proof Your Property (PDF | 102 KB)

Africanized Honey Bee Facts
State of California. Pasadena Health Department.
Identification/Description; Special Note: Contacts

Bee Alert - Africanized Honey Bee Facts (PDF | 43 KB)
State of California. San Diego County. Land Use and Environmental Group. Agriculture Weights and Measures.
Identification/Description; Impacts; Controls; Special Note: Contacts

Africanized Honey Bee Task Force
State of California. San Mateo County. Agriculture and Weights and Measures.
Impacts; Special Note: Contacts

Responding to the Introduction of Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) in North Carolina
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Plant Industry Division.
Introduction History; Impacts; Controls

African Bee Information
Utah State Department of Agriculture and Food.
Introduction History; Photographs; Distribution; Controls

University/Academic

Africanized Honey Bees in Oklahoma
Oklahoma State University. Entomology & Plant Pathology.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution; Controls

Africanized Honey Bees On the Move: Lesson Plans
University of Arizona. Africanized Honey Bee Education Project.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Special Note: Lesson Plans for Grades K-3, 4-6, 7-8, and 9-12

Apis mellifera - CalPhotos
University of California - Berkeley. Digital Library Project.
Photographs

Bee Alert: Africanized Honey Bee Facts (PDF | 307 KB)
University of California - Davis. Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Identification/Description; Illustrations

Africanized Honey Bee, Apis mellifera
University of California - Riverside. Center for Invasive Species Research.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution

Honey Bee Research and Information
University of California - Riverside. Entomology.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Legal Aspects; Special Note: Bibliography of Scientific Literature on Africanized Bees and Removal of Bee Stings

African Honey Bee: What You Need to Know
University of Florida. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts

What Every Floridian Needs To Know About Africanized Honey Bees
University of Florida. Entomology and Nematology. Research and Education Center.
Presentation by Dr. William Kern, Jr. ( 26:28 min)
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution

Bee Alert: What is the Africanized Honey Bee? (PDF | 56 KB)
New Mexico State University. Agriculture and Home Economics.
Identification/Description; Impacts

Africanized Honey Bee - Introduced Species Summary Project
Columbia University. Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Controls

2001 North Carolina Africanized Honey Bee Action Plan
North Carolina State University. Agriculture and Life Sciences. Entomology.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution

Africanized Honey Bee
Ohio State University Extension
Identification/Description; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Dispersion

Killer Bees
Fremont Unified School District (California). Thornton Jr. High School Honors Academy. Insecta Inspecta World. (Under the review of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History)
Taxonomy; Photographs; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Dispersion; Controls

Apis mellifera scutellata (insect) - ISSG Global Invasive Species Database
World Conservation Union. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Controls

Apiservices - Apiculture - Taxonomy
Apiservices.
Taxonomy

Africanized Honey Bee
BeeHoo.
Special Note: Resources

Apis mellifera scutellata
Discover Life.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Habitat; Distribution; Controls

African honeybee
Invasive.org.
Photographs; Special Note: Resources

Africanized Honey Bees
San Diego Natural History Museum.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Controls

Africanized Bees in the Americas
Sting Shield Corporation.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls