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Difference Between European & Africanized Bees

European honey bees have existed in the United States since their adoption during the time of Spanish exploration. Dr. Warrick Kerr, a geneticist working with the Brazilian government, erroneously believed that hybrid offspring of the European and African varieties would produce a bee that could endure the heat of the Tropics, but would retain the productivity and docile temperament of the European bee. The hybrid insects only retained the body plan of the European ancestors but maintained the hostile nature of the African line. The main differences between the two types of bees exist in their behaviors rather than their physical or genetic variances. Currently, Africanized, or killer, bees have spread quickly from their origins in Brazil northward into Central America and the southern regions of North America.

Absconding and Swarming Behavior
- Swarming refers to the process of a number of bees from a hive founding another hive elsewhere. Africanized bees swarm more often than their European counterparts, almost monthly compared to yearly. A new queen bee takes over the old hive while the old queen follows her subjects to a new location. Absconding occurs when all the bees in a hive leave the nest to locate a new one, usually in response to a disturbance. Africanized bees abscond at any hint of instability, exhibiting a restlessness not seen in the European bees.
Aggressiveness
- Africanized bees show more activity than their European cousins. Any unusual smells, sounds or vibrations will cause Africanized bees to erupt into frenzies. Once they find the source of the disturbance, the bees will pursue and sting the culprit to a greater extent than the more passive European bees. The venom from an Africanized bee does not differ from that of European bees; instead, reports of people and animals dying in greater numbers from killer bee stings result from the more violent stinging techniques.
Nesting
- European bees are more selective when choosing nesting sites.
  
  Africanized bees, in contrast to their European cousins, do not selectively choose sites to build nests. You can find a nest of Africanized bees almost anywhere, even inside human objects such as discarded tires, empty boxes or even around human homes. Whereas European honey bees tend to nest in larger areas, Africanized bees do not seem troubled by smaller, cramped spaces. Compared to their European counterparts, Africanized bees use more propolis -- a product made from the sap of trees -- to line their nests to protect from the ravages of sun, wind, rain and organisms that cause disease. In cases of disturbances at the nest site, Africanized bees would rather just abandon the hive.
Reproduction
- Every honey bee hive has a single queen whose sole purpose is to produce offspring. Her offspring include both the male drones that hatch from unfertilized eggs and sterile female worker bees originating from fertilized eggs. Feeding larvae royal jelly will produce new queens. When swarming occurs, queens have the chance to mate with several drones from other hives. Both varieties of queens mate with greater frequency with Africanized drones over European ones. Because Africanized drones mature quickly and spread rapidly, they have greater chances of mating than their European counterparts. Queen bees tend to favor the sperm of African drones over that of European ones. A single Africanized queen bee can lay 1,500 eggs per day. The eggs hatch within three days whereas a European bee egg takes more than a week.
Genetic and Physical Differences
- You may only note a slight difference in size between the two bee types, with the European variety being larger. To make a definite determination, biologists test the specimen using the Fast Africanized Bee Identification System. Additionally, specimens undergo microscopic examinations to measure wing and hind limb lengths since the two varieties differ in these respects. Additionally, preliminary identification reveals that measuring the length of 10 consecutive cells within the hive shows that the European cells measure more than 5 cm in length while the African constructions measure less than 4.9 cm.

Animals & Science