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Where Are They Now, and
When Will They Arrive in
North Carolina?
■ Honey bees are an integral component of agriculture because they are used to
pollinate numerous fruit and vegetable crops. In North Carolina alone, honey bees
account for more than $185 million per year in added crop yields.
The apiculture industry, however, is not without challenges. Recently, the
greatest challenge has been the introduction and spread of parasites, which have
decimated the feral bee population and caused a dramatic decline in the number of
managed beehives in the state. Now a second crisis looms — the potential spread
of Africanized honey bees (AHB), often sensationalized as “killer bees,” from
states and countries farther south, the results of which are difficult to predict.
The following brief history of the AHB in the Americas describes its current
distribution and evaluates the likelihood that AHB will become established in
North Carolina.
Distributed in furtherance of
the Acts of Congress of May
8 and June 30, 1914. North
Carolina State University and
North Carolina A&T State
University commit themselves
to positive action to secure
equal opportunity regardless
of race, color, creed, national
origin, religion, sex, age, or
disability. In addition, the
two Universities welcome
all persons without regard
to sexual orientation. North
Carolina State University,
North Carolina AST State
University, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, and local
governments cooperating.
The AHB in the Americas
The history of the Africanized
honey bee in the New World is well
documented. Several mated queens
were imported to Brazil from Africa in
1956 to breed a honey bee that would
be well-suited to Brazil’s tropical
climate. At that time, Brazilian honey
production was very low because
the European honey bee (EHB), on
which crop pollination and honey
production in the Americas were
based, was better adapted to a more
temperate environment. The goal
was to produce hybrids that exhibited
the foraging success of African bees
while maintaining the gentleness of
European bees. The inadvertent escape
of the African queen bees established
a feral population of “Africanized”
hybrids. Unfortunately, these hybrids
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retained most of the unfavorable traits
of their African ancestors, chief among
which was their unwelcome defensive
(stinging) behavior.
The AHB spread remarkably swiftly
(Figure 1), upward of hundreds of
miles per year. As the population grew,
the AHB expanded its range from Sao
Paulo, Brazil, south into Argentina and
north through Central America and
Mexico. In its wake, the AHB severely
affected the apicultural industries of
Brazil, Venezuela, and Panama and
forever changed beekeeping practices
in Latin America. Moreover, the
AHB gained its “killer bee” nickname
because of its increased defensive
behavior, and it became known as a
serious public health threat in South and
Central America.
