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The History of Killer Bees: From Brazil 1957 to Arizona

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The Africanized honey bee didn’t come from nowhere. It came from a deliberate, well-meant attempt to give Brazilian beekeepers a better bee, followed by an accident that let African bees loose. The result became one of the best-documented insect invasions in history. This post walks through the timeline. For what these bees are and how they behave, see What Are Killer Bees? and our Killer Bees 101 hub.

The problem Brazil was trying to solve

No honey bees are native to the Western Hemisphere. USDA ARS notes that Europeans brought honey bees to the Americas starting in the 1600s. Those European bees did well in temperate North America, where their habit of storing big honey reserves for winter paid off. In tropical South America they did poorly.

University of Florida entomologists explain that Brazilian scientist Warwick Kerr traveled to southern Africa to screen African honey bee subspecies for productivity and suitability. African bees had evolved in a tropical climate, and Kerr hoped to breed their strengths into a bee Brazilian beekeepers could manage.

1956: The import

USDA ARS dates the import of African bees to Brazil to 1956. The subspecies was Apis mellifera scutellata, the East African lowland (savannah) honey bee. Kerr’s plan, as UF/IFAS describes it, was to breed gentleness into the African stock through experiments and selection while keeping its good traits.

1957: The escape

The breeding program never finished. In 1957 African bees swarmed out of quarantine. UF/IFAS puts the number at 26 queens that were accidentally released. Ohio State’s entomologists note that the escaped queens mated with local European drones, which produced the hybrid now called the Africanized honey bee.

Several traits made the escape a success for the bee:

  • More drones. Africanized colonies produce more drones, so in a mixed area, European queens are more likely to mate with African drones.
  • Faster development. An African-type queen develops in about 14 days versus 16 for a European queen. The first queen out kills her unhatched rivals.
  • Frequent swarming. Africanized colonies can swarm 10 or more times a year, filling an area with new colonies.
  • Takeovers. Small African swarms can move into European colonies, and the European queen is lost.
  • Pest and disease resistance. UF/IFAS notes that African bees resist many honey bee pests and diseases better than European bees.

1957–1990: Across a continent

With nothing to stop them in the tropics, the bees spread south and north. UF/IFAS estimates the spread through South and Central America at 200 to 300 miles a year, mostly without human help. That earned the bee a reputation as one of the most successful invasive species ever recorded.

The arrival changed beekeeping across Latin America. UF/IFAS’s Solutions for Your Life notes that honey production and pollination dipped during the transition, but countries in South and Central America are exporting honey again, and beekeepers there have adapted their methods. Some South American countries are now among the world’s top honey producers largely because of African-derived bees.

The bees reached northern Mexico several years before the U.S. border, which gave USDA scientists time to study what happens when Africanized bees meet a region already full of European bees. USDA ran monitoring traps and began writing guidance for beekeepers and the public.

The Hollywood years

While the bees moved north, the movies got there first. USDA ARS wrote in 2004 that Hollywood had made Africanized bees “a frightening villain of mythic proportions.” UF/IFAS names two B-movies, Killer Bees (1974) and The Swarm (1978), as how many Americans first heard of them. That’s where the nickname “killer bee” became fixed. The scientific name is still Africanized honey bee, and extension services work hard to replace the fear with facts.

October 15, 1990: Texas

USDA ARS records the date exactly. On October 15, 1990, a swarm was found in an ARS honey bee trap just outside Hidalgo, Texas. It was the first Africanized honey bee colony confirmed in the United States.

Texas tried to slow them by monitoring and regulating commercial bee movement. Natural migration continued anyway. By August 2006, the Texas Apiary Inspection Service had detected Africanized bees in 163 of the state’s 254 counties.

1993: Arizona

University of Arizona Extension says Africanized bees were first seen in Arizona in 1993, reached Yavapai County in central Arizona by 1997, and have since been recorded statewide. Extension now advises that any wild honey bee in Arizona should be considered Africanized. Arizona is probably the state most associated with killer bees today.

By 1996, USDA reported the bees in parts of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Puerto Rico, and St. Croix. By 2004 the list included Nevada.

Puerto Rico: the bees that got gentler

Africanized bees reached Puerto Rico in 1994. Ohio State’s summary of the research says a 2017 genomic study found a sharp drop in defensive behavior in Puerto Rico’s Africanized bees within about 12 generations (1994–2006). The researchers suggested that conflict with people, island isolation, and low predation may have favored gentler colonies. It’s the only place in the Americas where gentle Africanized bees are known to have evolved. What that means for beekeeping is covered in Can You Keep Africanized Bees?

2001 onward: Florida and the Gulf

UF/IFAS documents Africanized bees near the Port of Tampa in 2001. By 2003 colonies were established around Tampa, and they have since spread through the southern half of Florida. By 2012, UF listed nine states: Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida. Current range details are in Where Do Killer Bees Live?.

Why the march slowed

Early forecasts predicted a fast sweep north, and it didn’t happen. USDA said in 1996 that the spread had been “much slower than predicted,” pointing to interbreeding with resident bees, disease, parasites, and cold weather. Later work tied the limit to climate: roughly 34° north latitude, and possibly heavy year-round rainfall. That’s why there are no established killer bees in places like Ohio. See Are There Killer Bees in Ohio?.

For how the story played out in individual states, read Killer Bees in Texas and Killer Bees in California, which follows the bees’ slow push north toward Sacramento.

Frequently asked questions

Who created killer bees?

Nobody set out to create them. Brazilian scientist Warwick Kerr imported African honey bees in 1956 to breed a better tropical honey bee. Queens escaped in 1957 and hybridized with local European bees.

How many queens escaped?

UF/IFAS cites 26 queens.

When did killer bees reach the United States?

October 15, 1990, near Hidalgo, Texas, according to USDA ARS.

When did they reach Arizona?

1993, according to University of Arizona Extension.

Why are they called killer bees?

Because of their mass defensive response, made famous by 1970s films. Their venom is no stronger than a European honey bee’s. See How Dangerous Is a Killer Bee Sting?.

Related reading

Sources

  • UF/IFAS EDIS EENY-429, “African Honey Bee, Africanized Honey Bee, Killer Bee”: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN790
  • UF/IFAS EDIS ENY-147, “Differences Between European and African Honey Bees”: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN784
  • UF/IFAS EDIS ENY-170, “Living with the African Honey Bee”: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1205/pdf
  • UF/IFAS Solutions for Your Life, “Africanized Honey Bees”: https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/natural-resources/africanized-honey-bees/
  • USDA ARS, “Africanized Honey Bees: The March North Has Slowed” (1996): https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/1996/mar/forum/
  • USDA ARS, “The Latest Research on Africanized Honey Bees” (2004): https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2004/the-latest-research-on-africanized-honey-bees/
  • Texas Apiary Inspection Service, “Africanized Bees”: https://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/public/africanized-bees/
  • University of Arizona Extension, “Feral Honeybees” (2023): https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/attachment/FeralHoneybees.pdf
  • Ohio State University BYGL, “Myths and facts – Africanized honey bees”: https://bygl.osu.edu/node/2431

Africanized vs. European Honey Bees: How to Tell the Difference

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People email photos and ask, “Is this a killer bee?” The honest answer is always the same: nobody can tell from a photo. Africanized and European honey bees look almost identical. What separates them is behavior, and to a scientist, measurements and DNA. This guide covers both, and it’s part of our Killer Bees 101 hub. If you’re new to the topic, start with What Are Killer Bees?.

Same species, different subspecies

Both bees are Apis mellifera, the western honey bee. European honey bees descend from subspecies such as the Italian (A. m. ligustica) and Carniolan (A. m. carnica), which beekeepers have bred for centuries for gentleness, heavy honey storage, and less swarming. Africanized honey bees descend mostly from A. m. scutellata, the East African lowland honey bee, brought to Brazil in the 1950s.

Because they are one species, they interbreed freely. University of Arizona Extension notes that wild honey bees in Arizona are a mix of several subspecies and that all of them there are considered Africanized to some extent.

Appearance: why your eyes won’t help

UF/IFAS states that Africanized workers are about 10 percent smaller than European workers, but the difference is so subtle that it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart without measurements or lab testing. The Florida Department of Agriculture puts it more bluntly: genetic testing is required, and you can’t tell the difference with the naked eye.

Color doesn’t help either. Both come in the same golden-brown-and-black banding, and colors vary within each type.

How labs actually identify them

Morphometrics. Researchers measure body parts, especially the forewing. USDA developed FABIS (the Fast Africanized Bee Identification System) for quick screening, and Florida uses it on suspect colonies. When FABIS results are uncertain, labs move to more detailed measurement systems. Our step-by-step guide, How to Identify Africanized Bees, explains the wing-length cutoff and where samples can be tested.

Genetics. DNA analysis gives the more rigorous answer, and it’s often needed when bees are hybrids.

Ohio State University gave a good local example in 2024. A Hamilton County beekeeper had a hot-tempered colony and decided it was Africanized. OSU entomologists measured the forewings of ten workers. The average was 9.27 mm, above the FABIS critical value of 9.001 mm, so the bees were ordinary western honey bees. The colony was simply defensive. The beekeeper had already destroyed it before the results came back, which is a good argument for testing first.

Behavior: the differences that matter to you

Behavior is where the two bees really differ, and it’s what matters to a homeowner. The numbers below come from UF/IFAS and USDA ARS.

Defense

European honey bee Africanized honey bee
Guard bees sent out when disturbed About 10–20 Several hundred
Distance of disturbance that triggers a response Up to about 20 ft Up to about 120 ft
Time to calm down Usually 1–2 hours May stay defensive for days
Stings from a disturbed colony About 10–20 About 100–1,000

UF/IFAS adds that Africanized bees may chase an intruder 400 yards or more. USDA’s Tucson lab recommends staying at least 100 feet from any Africanized hive, roughly the width of a four-lane highway.

There’s an important caveat. A USDA ARS article from 1996 noted that defensive behavior in the two types overlaps: some aggressive European colonies sting more readily than some mild Africanized ones. A mean colony isn’t proof of African ancestry, as the Ohio State case shows.

Swarming and absconding

European colonies typically swarm once or twice a year. Africanized colonies may swarm every six weeks in season, or 10 or more times a year. Africanized colonies also abscond, meaning the whole colony abandons the nest during a dearth or after repeated disturbance. European colonies rarely do this. For when that happens and what to do if a swarm lands in your yard, see Killer Bee Swarm Season.

Nest sites

European honey bee Africanized honey bee
Cavity size About 10 gallons About 1–5 gallons
Typical spots Dry, protected cavities above ground such as hollow trees and walls Water meter boxes, cement blocks, tires, grills, underground holes, even exposed on branches
How noticeable Larger colonies are easier to spot Small colonies often go unnoticed until disturbed

That last row explains a lot of stinging incidents. People mow over or reach into a small hidden nest without knowing it’s there.

Colony life and honey

Africanized colonies raise more drones, develop faster (a queen in about 14 days versus 16), and store proportionately less honey. University of Arizona Extension sums it up: they tend to have smaller colonies and produce smaller amounts of honey. We cover what that means for the honey in What Is Killer Bee Honey?.

What to do with this information

  1. Don’t diagnose by looks or temper. If you’re in an area where Africanized bees are established, treat every wild colony as if it could be Africanized, which is what University of Arizona Extension advises.
  2. Know your region. In most of the northern US, including Ohio, Africanized bees are not established. See Where Do Killer Bees Live?.
  3. Beekeepers: get it tested before you act. Your state apiary inspector or a university lab can arrange morphometric or genetic testing. Requeening a hot colony with a queen of known gentle stock is the standard fix.
  4. Everyone: give colonies space and call a pro. Our Bee & Wasp Removal page explains who to call in Northwest Ohio.
  5. Know the escape plan. Read What to Do If Killer Bees Attack once now, so you don’t have to think about it later.

If you find a wild colony, don’t try to remove it yourself. How to Get Rid of Killer Bees explains how to choose a professional and keep bees from coming back.

Frequently asked questions

Can I tell an Africanized bee from a photo?

No. Even trained entomologists need measurements or DNA. Africanized workers are only about 10 percent smaller.

Are Africanized bees darker or more yellow?

No. Color varies within both types and isn’t a reliable sign.

My hive is aggressive. Is it Africanized?

Not necessarily. Hunger, a missing queen, disturbance by animals, and pests can all make a European colony defensive. Ohio State tested a “killer bee” colony in 2024 and found ordinary western honey bees.

Is one type more likely to sting while foraging?

Foraging bees of either type are away from the nest and rarely sting unless trapped or stepped on, according to University of Arizona Extension. The difference shows up near the nest.

Do they produce different honey?

Honey flavor comes mainly from the flowers the bees visit, not the bee’s ancestry. See Is Killer Bee Honey Safe to Eat?.

Related reading

Sources

  • UF/IFAS EDIS ENY-147, “Differences Between European and African Honey Bees”: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN784
  • UF/IFAS EDIS ENY-170, “Living with the African Honey Bee”: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1205/pdf
  • UF/IFAS EDIS EENY-429, “African Honey Bee, Africanized Honey Bee, Killer Bee”: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN790
  • Ohio State University BYGL, “Myths and facts – Africanized honey bees” (Oct 8, 2024): https://bygl.osu.edu/node/2431
  • USDA ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, “Africanized Honey Bees Overview”: https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/docs/africanized-honey-bees/africanized-honey-bees-overview/
  • USDA ARS, “Africanized Honey Bees: The March North Has Slowed” (1996): https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/1996/mar/forum/
  • University of Arizona Extension AZ1846, “Wild Honey Bees in Community Environments”: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2024-08/az1846-2020.pdf
  • University of Arizona Extension AZ2011, “Honeybee Basic Biology”: https://www.extension.arizona.edu/publication/honeybee-series-honeybee-basic-biology
  • Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, “Honey Bee Removal or Eradication in Florida”: https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Health-and-Safety/Honey-Bee-Removal-or-Eradication-in-Florida
  • University of Arizona Extension, “They are called Africanized Honey Bees”: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/195020a.pdf

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