Editing Africanized bee (section)

== Characteristics ==
Though Africanized honey bees display certain behavioral traits that make them less than desirable for commercial beekeeping, excessive defensiveness and swarming foremost, they have now become the dominant type of honey bee for [[beekeeping]] in Central and South America due to their genetic dominance as well as ability to out-compete their European counterpart, with some beekeepers asserting that they are superior honey producers and [[pollinator]]s.{{original research inline|date=February 2024}}

Africanized honey bees, as opposed to other Western bee types:
* Tend to [[Swarming (honey bee)|swarm]] more frequently and go farther than other types of honey bees.
* Are more likely to migrate as part of a seasonal response to lowered food supply.
* Are more likely to "abscond"—the entire colony leaves the hive and relocates—in response to stress.
* Have greater defensiveness when in a resting swarm, compared to other honey bee types.
* Live more often in ground cavities than the European types.
* Guard the hive aggressively, with a larger alarm zone around the hive.
* Have a higher proportion of "guard" bees within the hive.
* Deploy in greater numbers for defense and pursue perceived threats over much longer distances from the hive.
* Cannot survive extended periods of [[forage]] deprivation, preventing introduction into areas with harsh winters or extremely dry late summers.
* Live in ''dramatically'' higher population densities.<ref group="Michener 1975" name="Moure-worker-abundance" />{{wbr}}<ref name="Kerr-1971" />{{wbr}}<ref group="Michener 1975" name="Kerr-hive-density" />{{wbr}}