Just this past week, I came across Africanized bees swarming in a local shopping area. In Arizona, these colonies have grown and have become more aggressive and more numerous in recent years. These bees were originally imported from Africa into Brazil in an effort to improve beekeeping in the New World tropics. These African bees were well suited to conditions in Brazil,and they began colonizing South America, and thus hybridizing with European honey bees (hence the name "Africanized" honey bees). Since then the bees have spread northward at a rate of 186 to 310 miles per year, and today every country in South and Central America has established populations of Africanized honey bees as well as Southern states like Arizona.
Richard -
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful and interesting, revealing your energy and zest for life, for including the saving of the bees. Re your personal email: how marvelous that there were no mosquitos in Minnesota! - and here's when you called. Have fun puttering around the house after being away from home. Thanks so much for the introductory call. Talk with you soon. Susan