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Africanized Honey Bees
Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier
26.2425, -80.2141
Field Notes
Description:
From a casual perspective, Africanized honeybees are virtually the same as European honeybees in many characteristics. However Africanized honeybees though unnoticeably smaller, are more agile, and have stronger immune systems. AHB's defend their home more aggressively and with greater numbers, they are more effective foragers.
Habitat:
The spread of African bees in the U.S. continues, albeit at a much slower rate than what occurred throughout South and Central America.
Notes:
The "Africanized" honeybee appears to have originated from Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Rio Claro Apiary, where Dr Kerr began working to make a more productive honeybee. During this project in 1957, it is said that 26 of Dr. Kerr's first generation hybrid bees were accidentally released by a visiting beekeeper who removed the queen excluders at the entrance of the hives (which keep the queen bee from leaving the hive). These bees spread and mated with the local European honey bees of Brazil.
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