They send hundreds. European stock sends a dozen.

African honey bees and European honey bees are the same species, Apis mellifera, listed as different subspecies. Differences Between European and African Honey Bees is the UF/IFAS paper. O'Malley, Ellis, and Zettel Nalen. This page is that paper. You cannot eyeball them is the ID rule. This is the table of how they act.

The venom of the Africanized honey bee is no more potent than that of the European honey bee.

Names on this paper

Popular pages say African, Africanized, and killer for the same insect. Differences Between European and African Honey Bees is picky. African honey bee, or AHB here, means Apis mellifera scutellata found outside its native range. In sub-Saharan Africa that race is a savannah honey bee among many African subspecies, so African honey bee is too loose there. Africanized honey bee means hybrids of scutellata and European stock kept in the Americas. The paper notes little European gene introgression through South America, Central America, and Mexico, then still uses African honey bee and AHB for the introduced population, for consistency.

European honey bees arrived in the Americas in the early 1600s. Beekeepers selected them for honey stores, fewer regular swarms, and gentleness. African honey bees, A. m. scutellata, were brought to Brazil in the 1950s to raise honey production. Twenty-six queens were released by accident. They hybridized and spread through the Americas into Florida. Africanized honey bees already said they are here.

You still cannot see the 10 percent

Africanized workers are about 10 percent smaller. The paper calls that difference very subtle. Field eyes are not enough. FDACS uses FABIS, Fast African Bee Identification System, on colonies taken from the southeastern US. If FABIS is still unsure, USDA-ID is the fuller morphometric test. Genetic testing stays the ID. A porch guess is still a guess.

One sting each. More bees.

Honey bees sting once and die. Wasps and hornets do not have that limit. Stinging is a last resort on this paper. The African colony sends more guards, pursues farther, and stays agitated longer. That is the difference, not a stronger venom. A zip-on veil for a managed European colony when the August box is hot and the guards are up. Get this. A smoker does not rewrite Table 1. Cool smoke for a hive you already own, not for a meter-box nest. Get this. A wild meter-box nest is a removal job, not an inspection.

Swarms, absconds, small holes

Swarming splits a strong colony when space and forage are high. The colony rears a new queen and roughly half leaves. swarming is the managed-hive control paper. Absconding is the whole colony leaving because forage is gone or the nest is threatened. Table 2: European stock swarms once or twice a year, rarely absconds, and needs a larger cavity. African stock can swarm 10 or more times a year, absconds often, and the smaller swarm fits a smaller hole.

Table 3: European nests around 10 gallons, dry, above ground, protected, often a hollow tree. African nests 1 to 5 gallons, including underground wet cavities, water meter boxes, and exposed comb hanging on a branch. Smaller nests go unnoticed until someone disturbs them. They store less honey because they evolved with year-round forage and frequent splits.

A nuisance nest on a Florida lot, not a managed hive, is the property owner's job. FDACS wants a registered beekeeper or a trained pest control operator to remove or eradicate. Choosing the Right Pest Control Operator for Honey Bee Removal is the consumer guide for hiring that operator. The FDACS Africanized honey bee page lists trained removal. Stay back. Call. A ball in a tree can still be a European swarm in transit. Behavior after you get close is the Differences Between European and African Honey Bees table.

Sources

1. Differences Between European and African Honey Bees. O'Malley, Ellis, and Zettel Nalen. Tables 1 to 3. FABIS. Venom.
2. Swarm Control for Managed Beehives. Managed splits. This page is the race table.
3. Choosing the Right Pest Control Operator for Honey Bee Removal. Nuisance nest on a lot. Registered beekeeper or PCO.

You cannot eyeball Africanized beesQueens still come from inspected stock. queen management is that buy.