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Pests, Plagues & Politics Lecture 10 INVASION OF THE KILLER BEES

Pests, Plagues & Politics Lecture 10 INVASION OF THE KILLER BEES. Key Points. Bee Taxonomy Where do Africanized honey bees (AHB) fit in? What differentiates AHB from other honey bees? Problems with AHB Current distribution of AHB. Africanized Honey Bees (AHB). Order HYMENOPTERA Family

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Pests, Plagues & Politics Lecture 10 INVASION OF THE KILLER BEES

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  1. Pests, Plagues & PoliticsLecture 10INVASION OF THE KILLER BEES

  2. Key Points • Bee Taxonomy • Where do Africanized honey bees (AHB) fit in? • What differentiates AHB from other honey bees? • Problems with AHB • Current distribution of AHB

  3. Africanized Honey Bees(AHB) • Order • HYMENOPTERA • Family • Apidae • Genus & species • Apis mellifera L.

  4. Africanized Honey Bees • Apoidea (BEES) • ca. 20,000 species worldwide • ca. 10% of which are social • seven major families • Family Apidae • the Bumble Bees • the Stingless Bees • the HONEY BEES

  5. Africanized Honey Bees • Family Apidae • Genus Apis • Nine species: • Apis dorsata & Apis laboriosa • the giant honey bees • Apis florea & Apis andreniformis • the small or dwarf honey bees • Apis cerana, Apis koschenikovi, et alia • the eastern honey bees AND

  6. Apis mellifera • Many biotypes-races-subspecies • ca. 25 in the world • Largest geographical range of any honey bee species • why? • ANTHROPOGENIC • NOT “domesticated”

  7. 11 races of honey bees

  8. Apis dorsata F. The Giant Honey Bee

  9. Apis floreaF. The dwarf honey bee

  10. Apiscerana F. The eastern honey bee

  11. A. mellifera to the “New” World • North America • 1622 from Europe • South America • ca. early 19th century from Europe • a temperate animal to largely a tropical environment [note: No honey bees in the western hemisphere prior to 1622]

  12. African Honey Bees to Brasil • 1956 • A govt. program to improve the productivity of honey bees • Headed by Dr. Warwick Kerr • Honey bee stocks selected in Africa • A.m. scutellata • 1957 • swarms escaped into the wilds. And thus began the reign of

  13. Research Efforts - AHB • Caveat: prior to mid-1950ties, 95% of honey bee research had been conducted on Apis mellifera - European biotypes!! • Brasil • Enormous research effort on AHB • largely ignored by N. American research community. • USDA • from mid-1970ties onward • French Guyana - Venezuela - Panama - Mexico - Argentina (belatedly)

  14. The Notoriety of “Killer” Bees • A Killer?? • If YES, then all bees are killers • If NO, then no bees are killers • “Killer” • an anthropomorphic term totally inappropriate • created by TIME magazine in the mid-1960ties

  15. Envenomation (stinging) • A DEFENSIVE response to colony disturbance! Note: LD50 for stings is about 1,000

  16. Stinging • Mediated by: • Weather; temperature & relative humidity • Light;day vs. night • Odors;alarm & CO2 (your breath) • Color;dark targeted preferentially • Movement;visual disruption • Colony size • Genetics • AHB react to colony disturbance with an increased quantitative response

  17. The Problems with AHB • Swarm production • Opportunistic selection of nesting sites • Facultative swarm amalgamation • Superior competitive ability • in foraging • in sex!! • Heightened & persistent defensive response

  18. AHB Today!!! • 50,000,000 colonies of Ahb now found in their New World range • compared to perhaps 3,000,000 Ehb colonies in the white boxes in the U.S. • First Arrival In U.S. • October 15 1990 • Hidalgo, Texas

  19. Migration and Distribution as of 2010

  20. Ahb – California 2007 2007

  21. Major queen producer

  22. AHB – Florida 2006

  23. Potential “Range” of Ahb in the U.S.

  24. AHB in the U.S. • Ahb is a tropical creature • Ehb is a temperate creature • Each in their respective ecosystems is superior • ergo: • Pure Ahb will not establish in much of the U.S. • HOWEVER, Hybrids will!!! • So what’s a hybrid???

  25. Ahb/Ehb Hybrids • Apis mellifera queen mates with 15-20 males • 1 Ahb & 19 Ehb males • 5% of the workers are 50/50 African-European • 10 Ahb & 10 Ehb males • 50% of the workers are 50/50 African-European • African queen • 1 Ahb & 19 Ehb males • 5% of the workers are pure African • 10 Ahb & 10 Ehb males • 50% of the workers are pure African

  26. Belize: The Ahb Paradigm!!! Totally tropical; totally Ahb

  27. 30° S. Lat. A mixture of Pure Ahb, Hybridized Ahb, & Pure Ehb 35º S. Lat. “A small proud nation”

  28. Problems to date!! • Public Health • minor with ca. 10 human deaths in 10 years • compared to 500 human fatalities due to Ehb • Beekeeping • Lost markets • Disruption of normal migratory bee movement • Increased input costs • Potential loss of pollination efficacy

  29. Key Points • Bee Taxonomy • Where do Africanized honey bees (AHB) fit in • What differentiates AHB from other honey bees? • Problems with AHB • Current distribution of AHB

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