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Africanized bee
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== North American distribution == [[File:Killerbees ani.gif|thumb|left|Spread over time|alt=Map showing the spread of Africanized honey bees in the United States from 1990 to 2003]] Africanized honey bees are considered an [[invasive species]] in the Americas. As of 2002, the Africanized honey bees had spread from Brazil south to northern [[Argentina]] and north to Central America, Trinidad (the West Indies), Mexico, [[Texas]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[New Mexico]], [[Florida]], and southern California. In June 2005, it was discovered that the bees had spread into southwest [[Arkansas]]. Their expansion stopped for a time at eastern Texas, possibly due to the large population of European honey bee hives in the area. However, discoveries of the Africanized honey bees in southern [[Louisiana]] show that they have gotten past this barrier,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=11059&page=6 |publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]] |title=African Honey Bees |website=Ars.usda.gov |access-date=19 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018060727/http://ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=11059&page=6 |archive-date=18 October 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> or have come as a swarm aboard a ship. On 11 September 2007, Commissioner [[Bob Odom]] of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said that Africanized honey bees had established themselves in the [[New Orleans]] area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/227320?tp=1 |title='Killer bees' descend on New Orleans |publisher=Digitaljournal.com |access-date=19 October 2010|date=2007-09-12 }}</ref> In February 2009, Africanized honey bees were found in southern [[Utah]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/africanized_bees_found_in_utah.html |title=African bees found in Utah for the first time |website=Oregon Live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912145440/http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/africanized_bees_found_in_utah.html |archive-date=12 September 2016 |agency=Associated Press |date=12 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ag.utah.gov/news/africanmainpage.html |publisher=Utah Department of Agriculture and Food |title=Africanized bees |access-date=19 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020154420/http://ag.utah.gov/news/africanmainpage.html |archive-date=2010-10-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The bees had spread into eight counties in Utah, as far north as [[Grand County, Utah|Grand]] and [[Emery County, Utah|Emery]] Counties by May 2017.<ref name="ksl 20170518">{{cite web |url=http://www.ksl.com/?sid=44294722&nid=148&title=killer-bees-now-documented-in-8-utah-counties |title=Killer bees now documented in 8 Utah counties |date=May 18, 2017 |first=Becky |last=Wright |publisher=[[KSL-TV]] |access-date=May 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520212841/http://www.ksl.com/?sid=44294722&nid=148&title=killer-bees-now-documented-in-8-utah-counties |archive-date=2017-05-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In October 2010, a 73-year-old man was killed by a swarm of Africanized honey bees while clearing brush on his south [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] property, as determined by Georgia's Department of Agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Killer bees stung Georgia man to death, tests show |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2010/10/21/killer-bees-stung-georgia-man-death-tests-show/15927568007/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=The Florida Times-Union |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Africanized bees blamed in death of Georgia man |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/21/georgia.bees.fatality/index.html |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=www.cnn.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2012, [[Tennessee]] state officials reported that a colony was found for the first time in a beekeeper's colony in [[Monroe County, Tennessee|Monroe County]] in the eastern part of the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U24OP80.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413003932/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U24OP80.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |title=Africanized bees found in East Tennessee |publisher=Bloomsburg |date=2012-04-10 |access-date=2012-04-11}}</ref> In June 2013, 62-year-old Larry Goodwin of [[Moody, Texas]], was killed by a swarm of Africanized honey bees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/02/18703314-killer-bees-leave-texas-man-dead-woman-in-serious-condition?lite |title='Killer bees' leave Texas man dead, woman in serious condition |work=NBC News |date=2 June 2013 |access-date=4 June 2013 |archive-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603123621/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/02/18703314-killer-bees-leave-texas-man-dead-woman-in-serious-condition?lite |url-status=dead }}</ref> In May 2014, [[Colorado State University]] confirmed that bees from a swarm which had aggressively attacked an orchardist near [[Palisade, Colorado|Palisade]], in west-central Colorado, were from an Africanized honey bee hive. The hive was subsequently destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2014/05/13/africanized-bees-reach-colorado-turn-up-in-palisade-orchard/ |title=Africanized bees reach Colorado, turn up in Palisade orchard |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=13 May 2014 |access-date=26 December 2016}}</ref> In tropical climates they effectively out-compete European honey bees and, at their peak rate of expansion, they spread north at almost two kilometers (about 1ΒΌ mile) a day. There were discussions about slowing the spread by placing large numbers of docile European-strain hives in strategic locations, particularly at the [[Isthmus of Panama]], but various national and international agricultural departments could not prevent the bees' expansion. Current knowledge of the genetics of these bees suggests that such a strategy, had it been tried, would not have been successful.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG113 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623084759/http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG113 |archive-date=2008-06-23 |publisher=University of Florida |department=[[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences]] (IFAS) Extension |title=African honey bee: What you need to know |website=Edis.ifas.ufl.edu |access-date=2011-01-05}}</ref> As the Africanized honey bee migrates further north, colonies continue to interbreed with European honey bees. In a study conducted in Arizona in 2004 it was observed that swarms of Africanized honey bees could take over weakened European honey bee hives by invading the hive, then killing the European queen and establishing their own [[Queen bee|queen]].<ref name="Usurp">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s00040-004-0753-1 |title=Seasonal nest usurpation of European colonies by African swarms in Arizona, USA |journal=Insectes Sociaux |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=359 |year=2004 |last1=Schneider |first1=S.S. |last2=Deeby |first2=T. |last3=Gilley |first3=D.C. |last4=Degrandi-Hoffman |first4=G.|s2cid=9857643 }}</ref> There are now relatively stable geographic zones in which either Africanized honey bees dominate, a mix of Africanized and European honey bees is present, or only non-Africanized honey bees are found, as in the southern portions of South America or northern North America. [[File:Africanized honey bee hive.jpg|thumb|Hive on [[Gila River Indian Community]] land in Arizona]] African honey bees abscond (abandon the hive and any food store to start over in a new location) more readily than European honeybees. This is not necessarily a severe loss in tropical climates where plants bloom all year, but in more temperate climates it can leave the colony with not enough stores to survive the winter. Thus Africanized honey bees are expected to be a hazard mostly in the [[Southern United States|southern states]] of the United States, reaching as far north as the [[Chesapeake Bay]] in the east. The cold-weather limits of the Africanized honey bee have driven some professional bee breeders from Southern California into the harsher wintering locales of the northern [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and southern [[Cascade Range]]. This is a more difficult area to prepare bees for early [[Pollination management|pollination]] placement in, such as is required for the production of [[almond]]s. The reduced available winter forage in northern California means that bees must be fed for early spring buildup. The arrival of the Africanized honey bee in Central America is threatening the traditional craft of keeping ''[[Melipona]]'' [[stingless bee]]s in [[log gum]]s, although they do not interbreed or directly compete with each other. The honey production from an individual hive of Africanized honey bees can be as high as {{convert|100|kg|lb|0}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} This value exceeds the much smaller {{convert|3β5|kg|lb|0}} of the various ''Melipona'' stingless bee species.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Thus economic pressures are forcing beekeepers to switch from the traditional stingless bees to the new reality of the Africanized honey bee. Whether this will lead to the extinction of the former is unknown, but they are well adapted to exist in the wild, and there are a number of indigenous plants that the Africanized honey bees do not visit, so the fate of the ''Melipona'' bees remains to be seen. [[File:Creation-Via-Pollination.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Gathering pollen, [[Opuntia engelmannii|Engelmann's prickly pear]], [[Mojave Desert]]]]
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