# Africanized queen



## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

Here’s a photo I took yesterday when my wife and I were out checking some of our hives here in Honduras. Normally I don’t actively look for the queen but my wife just happened to see this one. 










People back in the States sometimes ask me if the Africanized bees are really dark. As you can see by the queen and the workers, that’s not really the case. I often see queens that are more orange than this one. 

Luckily the bees were still calm at this point so I could get a decent picture. As the afternoon wore on (and the day started to cloud over) the bees got more and more agitated and ornery. Several got in my wife’s veil and stung her in the face. It swelled up pretty good. That photo she won’t let me show.

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Tom


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Good Photo. Ouch poor wife. How did the TBH's at your brothers place work out? 
We have been as cold as -26 F here in Western Wisconsin. Honduras looks a lot more appealing at the moment. Adrian


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## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

Considering that they were first-year hives they did okay. We didn’t get a lot of honey but a bit. Besides the nucs we bought we also caught a couple swarms. Everything is bundled up and overwintering right now. Hopefully this year will give us better results. It won’t be too long before I’m heading back north.

Today was sunny and probably in the low eighties down here. The last ten days or so, however, were drizzly, overcast and cool—cold front from up north. It’s good to have the nice weather back. Hopefully the bees will start working again. When we looked at the hives that day there was no fresh nectar at all in the hives and it looked like they were actually tapping into their honey. Normally we’re pulling out the first harvest this time of the year. Things should get back on track now that the nice weather as reappeared.

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Tom


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks for the photo.

Matt


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

Tomas

thanks for the pic
you're right, lot's of folk up my way looking for info on Africanized bees
[edit]that really is a nice pic, do you mind if I use it in a presentation to kids?
it would be nice to tell them all about the brood comb and then mention "Oh, bye the way, these are Africanized bees"
nice opportunity to introduce the topic to them

Dave


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## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

No problem. Go ahead and use it.


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## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

Tomas, great photo! We do have some issues with Africanized bees here in Texas, but I don't think the problem is as wide spread in my area as others. I have about 100 hives, at least 50% of which are feral removals. I could show you photos of many of my bees that you would be hard pressed to tell the difference from your photo. I work these bees in shorts & tee shirt (weather permitting) with no protection whatsoever on my hands and arms (I do wear a veil as I hate even an occasional sting to the face). I bet you would not even approach your hives in similar attire! I think your photo pretty dramatically illustrates the fact that there is no way to tell an Africanized bee based on general physical appearance.


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

Tomas said:


> That photo she won’t let me show.


Tom, what she doesn't know won't hurt. Go ahead and post it, we won't tell.:shhhh:


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## Bizzybee (Jan 29, 2006)

MM, you trouble maker!! You know the one right after that will be Thomas' fat face!!


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## captaintat2 (Oct 27, 2012)

Tom, I'm a newcomer to beekeeping and am living on Utila where there are presently zero hives. I have ordered Four hives and all of the rest of the start up equipment and am eagerly waiting delivery. What is the 'winter up' months that I should expect? Since my hives will be arriving in mid-November should I wait for spring to get fired up? Is there anyplace I can buy bees and queen to insert or should I just plan on capturing a feral Hive? Any local knowledge you can share with me will be most appreciated.


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## captaintat2 (Oct 27, 2012)

Tom, Further to my above questions, please advise how many brood bodies you are using and are they deep or mediums? I'm thinking of staging my hives with two deep brood boxes, however, I recognize that the Africanized bees get a bit temperamental when they have a large brood to protect.


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## Duhaje Jennings (May 17, 2012)

In Jamaica, they say there are no reported cases of Africanized bees. Can someone paint me a picture(well give an example) of some things you look out for to identify them in terms of behaviour. I have a few hives that they are very aggressive but i keep them around because they score high on hygienic tests.


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