What is the difference between African, Africanized and European honey bees?
Several races or subspecies of honey bees reside in Africa. One of these, Apis mellifera scutellata, from the central and southern part of the continent, is the predominant parental type introduced into South America. This is the African or Africanized honey bee so often sensationalized in the media. The European honey bee is the race common to North America, and is an amalgam of many European subspecies imported over the past several centuries. To a much smaller extent, subspecies from Asia and Africa were also introduced. Breeding occurs between the African and European races of honey bees, but the extent to which bee populations in the Americas are African-European hybrids has been debated. The term “Africanized” is traditionally applied to all progeny resulting from matings between European and African bees. The acronym “AHB” is now a commonly used, practical, identification term.
