Editing Africanized bee (section)

== Impact on apiculture ==
In areas of suitable temperate climate, the survival traits of Africanized honey bee colonies help them outperform European honey bee colonies. They also return later and work under conditions that often keep European honey bees hive-bound. This is the reason why they have gained a reputation as superior honey producers, and those beekeepers who have learned to adapt their management techniques now seem to prefer them to their European counterparts. Studies show that in areas of Florida that contain Africanized honey bees, the honey production is higher than in areas in which they do not live.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.013 | title = The effect of Africanized honey bees on honey production in the United States: An informational approach | journal = Ecological Economics | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 895–904 | year = 2010 | last1 = Livanis | first1 = G. | last2 = Moss | first2 = C. B.  | bibcode = 2010EcoEc..69..895L }}</ref> It is also becoming apparent that Africanized honey bees have another advantage over European honey bees in that they seem to show a higher resistance to several health issues, including parasites such as ''[[Varroa destructor]]'', some fungal diseases like chalkbrood, and even the mysterious [[colony collapse disorder]] which was plaguing beekeepers in the early 2000's. Despite all its negative factors, it is possible that the Africanized honey bee might actually end up being a boon to apiculture.{{failed verification|date=January 2023}}<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Dewey M.|last1= Caron|first2= Deborah A.|last2= Delaney|first3= Daniel|last3= Borkoski |first4=Cindy|last4= Bee |date=May 2020 |title=Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium |url=https://canr.udel.edu/maarec/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2020/06/Africanized-Honey-Bees-1_3.pdf |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>

=== Queen management ===
In areas where Africanized honey bees are well established, bought and pre-fertilized (i.e. mated) European queens can be used to maintain a hive's European genetics and behavior. However, this practice can be expensive, since these queens must be bought and shipped from breeder apiaries in areas completely free of Africanized honey bees, such as the northern U.S. states or [[Hawaii]]. As such, this is generally not practical for most commercial beekeepers outside the U.S., and it is one of the main reasons why Central and South American beekeepers have had to learn to manage and work with the existing Africanized honey bee. Any effort to crossbreed virgin European queens with Africanized drones will result in the offspring exhibiting Africanized traits; only 26&nbsp;swarms escaped in 1957, and nearly 60 years later there does not appear to be a noticeable lessening of the typical Africanized characteristics.{{failed verification|date=January 2023}}<!-- This source does not verify this paragraph--><ref>{{Cite web |title=Africanized Bees: Better Understanding, Better Prepared – Bee Health |url=https://bee-health.extension.org/africanized-bees-better-understanding-better-prepared/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=bee-health.extension.org}}</ref>

=== Gentleness ===
[[File:Puerto Rican Africanized Bee.jpg|alt=A Puerto Rican Africanized Bee, using its proboscis.|thumb|A Puerto Rican Africanized Bee, using its proboscis.]]
Not all Africanized honey bee hives display the typical hyper-defensive behavior, which may provide bee breeders a point to begin breeding a gentler stock<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beesource.com/point-of-view/africanized-honey-bees/preparing-for-the-africanized-honey-bee-a-program-for-arizona/ |series=Beesource Beekeeping |title=Preparing for the "Africanized" honey bee: A program for Arizona |publisher=Beesource.com |access-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> (gAHBs).<ref name="Avalos-et-al-2020" /><ref name="Galindo-Cardona-et-al-2013" /> Work has been done in Brazil towards this end, but in order to maintain these traits, it is necessary to develop a queen breeding and mating facility in order to requeen colonies and to prevent reintroduction of unwanted genes or characteristics through unintended crossbreeding with feral colonies. In Puerto Rico, some bee colonies are already beginning to show more gentle behavior. This is believed to be because the more gentle bees contain genetic material that is more similar to the European honey bee, although they also contain Africanized honey bee material.<ref name="Galindo-Cardona-et-al-2013">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1186/1471-2156-14-65 | pmid = 23915100 | pmc = 3750330 | title = Genetic structure of the gentle Africanized honey bee population (gAHB) in Puerto Rico | journal = BMC Genetics | volume = 14 | pages = 65 | year = 2013 | last1 = Galindo-Cardona | first1 = A. | last2 = Acevedo-Gonzalez | first2 = J. P. | last3 = Rivera-Marchand | first3 = B. | last4 = Giray | first4 = T. | doi-access = free }}</ref> This degree of aggressiveness is surprisingly almost unrelated to individual genetics – instead being almost entirely determined by the entire hive's proportion of aggression genetics.<ref name="SciTechDaily-group-aggression" /><ref name="Avalos-et-al-2020" />

=== Safety ===
While bee incidents are much less common than they were during the first wave of Africanized honey bee colonization, this can be largely attributed to modified and improved bee management techniques. Prominent among these are locating bee-yards much farther away from human habitation, creating barriers to keep livestock at enough of a distance to prevent interaction, and education of the general public to teach them how to properly react when feral colonies are encountered and what resources to contact. The Africanized honey bee is now considered the honey bee of choice for beekeeping in Brazil.<ref name="Productivity-Brazil-LATimes-1994" />