,THE ,AFRICANIZED HONEY BEE IS THE MOST FAMOUS UNINTENDED INTRODUCTION IN ,AMERICAN BEEKEEPING A DEFENSIVE HYBRID THAT ESCAPED A ,BRAZILIAN BREEDING PROGRAM IN #AIEG1 COLONIZED THE ,AMERICAS AT A FEW HUNDRED KILOMETERS A YEAR1 CROSSED INTO ,TEXAS IN #AIIJ1 AND NOW DOMINATES FERAL POPULATIONS ACROSS THE ,U4,S4 SOUTHERN TIER4 ,IT IS THE SAME SPECIES AS EVERY OTHER HONEY BEE ON THE CONTINENT2 WHAT DIFFERS IS HOW HARD IT DEFENDS ITS HOME4 ,AN EXPERIMENT THAT WALKED AWAY ,IN #AIEF#EG1 ,BRAZILIAN GENETICIST ,WARWICK ,KERR IMPORTED QUEENS OF THE SOUTHERN ,AFRICAN SUBSPECIES ,APIS MELLIFERA SCUTELLATA TO ;,SO ,PAULO1 HOPING TO BREED A BEE BETTER SUITED TO THE TROPICS THAN THE TEMPERATE ,EUROPEAN STOCKS4 ,IN #AIEG A VISITING BEEKEEPER REMOVED QUEEN-EXCLUDER SCREENS FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL HIVES1 AND #BF SWARMS WITH ,AFRICAN QUEENS ESCAPED THE FOUNDATIONAL ACCIDENT OF ,AMERICAN BEEKEEPING4 ,THE HYBRIDS SPREAD AT ROUGHLY #CJJ#DJJ KM PER YEAR SWARM-DRIVEN1 TAKING OVER FERAL NICHES AND HYBRIDIZING WITH OR OUT-COMPETING THE ,EUROPEAN FERAL STOCK4 ,THEY MOVED THROUGH ,SOUTH ,AMERICA IN THE #AIFJ;S#GJ;S1 CROSSED ,CENTRAL ,AMERICA IN THE #AIHJ;S1 ENTERED ,MEXICO1 AND IN ,OCTOBER #AIIJ THE FIRST CONFIRMED ,U4,S4 SWARM WAS CAPTURED NEAR ,HIDALGO1 ,TEXAS4 ,WHAT 8,AFRICANIZED0 ACTUALLY MEANS ,THE 8KILLER BEE0 REPUTATION RESTS ON A REAL BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCE WITH A MISLEADING LABEL3 "9 ,SAME VENOM1 SAME STING AN ,AFRICANIZED STING IS CHEMICALLY IDENTICAL TO A ,EUROPEAN BEE'S "9 ,DIFFERENT THRESHOLD COLONIES RESPOND TO DISTURBANCE FASTER1 WITH MORE BEES1 AND PURSUE FARTHER HUNDREDS OF METERS IN DOCUMENTED INCIDENTS "9 ,MORE COLONIES NEAR PEOPLE HIGHER SWARMING AND ABSCONDING RATES MEAN MORE NESTING IN STRUCTURES ,THE RESULT IS NOT MORE LETHAL STINGS PER BEE1 BUT MANY MORE STINGS PER INCIDENT4 ,DOCUMENTED ATTACKS HAVE KILLED PEOPLE AND ANIMALS A NUMBER OF DOCUMENTED HUMAN DEATHS IN THE ,U4,S4 SINCE #AIIJ1 AND CONSIDERABLY MORE LIVESTOCK AND PETS ALMOST ALWAYS WHERE A COLONY WAS DISTURBED OR APPROACHED UNAWARES4 ,HOW THEY WIN ,AFRICANIZED BIOLOGY TILTS TO SPEED3 SLIGHTLY FASTER DEVELOPMENT1 HIGHER SWARMING AND ABSCONDING RATES1 AND THE ABILITY TO USURP SMALL ,AFRICANIZED SWARMS MOVE INTO ,EUROPEAN-MANAGED HIVES1 REPLACE THE QUEEN1 AND TAKE OVER4 ,AFRICANIZED DRONES' EDGE IN MATING GRADUALLY SHIFTS THE FERAL GENE POOL THEIR DIRECTION4 ,IRONICALLY THE SAME TRAITS MAKE THEM SOMEWHAT MORE RESILIENT TO VARROA DESTRUCTOR HYGIENE AND FREQUENT RE-NESTING INTERRUPT THE MITE'S CYCLE AND SUPERBLY ADAPTED TO WARM1 SPARSE-FORAGE CONDITIONS4 ,RANGE AND THE NORTHERN EDGE ,ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS NOW SPAN ABOUT TEN SOUTHERN STATES ,TEXAS1 ,NEW ,MEXICO1 ,ARIZONA1 SOUTHERN ,CALIFORNIA1 ,NEVADA1 ,UTAH1 ,OKLAHOMA1 ,ARKANSAS1 ,LOUISIANA1 AND ,FLORIDA WITH THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY SET BY WINTER SURVIVAL1 NOT BEHAVIOR4 ,AFRICANIZED COLONIES OVERWINTER POORLY IN COLD CLIMATES1 WHICH IS WHY THE 8KILLER BEES ARE COMING NORTH0 HEADLINES OF THE #AIIJ;S DID NOT MATERIALIZE3 THE LINE HAS HELD NEAR THE SOUTHERN TIER FOR THIRTY YEARS4 ,LIVING WITH THEM ,IN ,AFRICANIZED RANGE1 THE RULES OF COEXISTENCE ARE THE REMOVAL INDUSTRY'S3 CHECK BEFORE DISTURBING CAVITIES AND EQUIPMENT1 TREAT A MASSED COLONY AS HAZARDOUS RATHER THAN CURIOUS1 AND CALL TRAINED REMOVAL RATHER THAN APPROACHING A STRUCTURAL COLONY WITH A CAN OF SPRAY THE MAJORITY OF SERIOUS STING INCIDENTS IN THESE STATES BEGIN EXACTLY THAT WAY4 ,REFERENCES - ,KERR BREEDING-PROGRAM HISTORY2 ,,USDA ,,APHIS_/,,ARS SPREAD RECORDS - ,SANFORD _/ ,HALL ,AFRICANIZED BEE BIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT LITERATURE - ,INCIDENT AND FATALITY REVIEWS "<,,CDC_/STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS"> - ,OVERWINTERING-RANGE STUDIES ,SEE ALSO "9 ,FERAL HONEY BEE THE WILD POPULATION IT DOMINATES "9 ,HONEY BEE INFESTATION REMOVAL IN ,AFRICANIZED TERRITORY "9 ,HONEY BEE INTRODUCTION TO THE ,AMERICAS ,HONEY BEES IN ,NORTH ,AMERICA "9 ,VARROA DESTRUCTOR THE PARASITE IT RESISTS BETTER