Editing Africanized bee (section)

==Impact on humans==
=== Fear factor ===
{{main|Fear of bees}}
The Africanized honey bee is widely feared by the public,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://killer-bees.weebly.com/history.html |title=Killer Bees |website=Weebly |access-date=2016-05-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011005640/http://killer-bees.weebly.com/history.html |archive-date=2016-10-11 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> a reaction that has been amplified by sensationalist movies (such as ''[[The Swarm (1978 film)|The Swarm]]'') and some of the media reports. Stings from Africanized honey bees kill on average two or three people per year.<ref>{{cite news |author=Warner, Amanda |date=21 April 2009 |url=http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/apr/21/beekeepers-warn-of-summer-threat/ |title=Beekeepers warn of summer threat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328083617/http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/apr/21/beekeepers-warn-of-summer-threat/ |archive-date=28 March 2014 |newspaper=[[Times Record News]] |location=[[Wichita Falls, Texas]] |access-date=17 May 2010}}</ref>

As the Africanized honey bee spreads through Florida, a densely populated state, officials worry that public fear may force misguided efforts to combat them:

{{blockquote|News reports of mass stinging attacks will promote concern and in some cases panic and anxiety, and cause citizens to demand responsible agencies and organizations to take action to help ensure their safety. We anticipate increased pressure from the public to ban beekeeping in urban and suburban areas. This action would be counter-productive. Beekeepers maintaining managed colonies of domestic European bees are our best defense against an area becoming saturated with AHB. These managed bees are filling an ecological niche that would soon be occupied by less desirable colonies if it were vacant.|Florida African Bee Action Plan<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/plantinsp/apiary/ahbgroup/actionplan.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711040416/http://www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/plantinsp/apiary/ahbgroup/actionplan.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-11 |title=Florida African bee Action Plan |publisher=[[Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services]] |access-date=2011-01-05 }}</ref>}}

=== Misconceptions ===
"Killer bee" is a term frequently used in media such as movies that portray aggressive behavior or actively seeking to attack humans. "Africanized honey bee" is considered a more descriptive term in part because their behavior is increased defensiveness compared to European honey bees that can exhibit similar defensive behaviors when disturbed.{{clarify|reason=nonsequitur - does not explain anything|date=February 2019}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Africanized Honey Bees |url=http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/natural-resources/africanized-honey-bees/ |website=sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu |publisher=UF/IFAS Extension |access-date=7 December 2018}}</ref>

The sting of the Africanized honey bee is no more potent than any other variety of honey bee, and although they are similar in appearance to European honey bees, they tend to be slightly smaller and darker in color. Although Africanized honey bees do not actively search for humans to attack, they are more dangerous because they are more easily provoked, quicker to attack in greater numbers, and then pursue the perceived threat farther, for as much as a quarter of a mile (400&nbsp;metres).<ref name=SI/>

While studies have shown that Africanized honey bees can infiltrate European honey bee colonies and then kill and replace their queen (thus usurping the hive), this is less common than other methods. Wild and managed colonies will sometimes be seen to fight over honey stores during the dearth (periods when plants are not flowering), but this behavior should not be confused with the aforementioned activity. The most common way that a European honey bee hive will become Africanized is through crossbreeding during a new queen's mating flight. Studies have consistently shown that Africanized drones are more numerous, stronger and faster than their European cousins and are therefore able to out-compete them during these mating flights. The result of mating between Africanized drones and European queens is almost always Africanized offspring.<ref>{{cite book |author=Winston, Mark L. |year=1992 |title=Killer Bees: The Africanized honey bee in the Americas |url=https://archive.org/details/killerbeesafrica00wins |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-50353-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/killerbeesafrica00wins/page/9 9]–34}}</ref>