> Getting back to the original point, AHB and European bees have not shown
> hybridization in the natural laboratory.  There has not been documented Apis
> meliffera meliffellata of Apis meliffera scuteliffera or whatever one would
> call the hybrid.  Nor has there been a definitive explanation why.  As it's
> played out in the natural settings, when scutellata colonizes an area, the
> Europeans disappear.
>
> Aaron Morris

A quote for thought:

"European" bees, those kept by beekeepers in the Americas, are usually
described as a mixture of races (and genes). It is further accepted by most
experts that "African" bees in South America outcross with "European" bees
there. Interestingly however, the progeny of this crossbreeding are then
called "Africanized" - no longer a variable mixture of races (albiet
somewhat expanded) even though only a single race (African) with some
admittedly less desirable traits has been added to the genetic base. We
think it equally or more appropriate to say that the African bees became
Europeanized. The popular concept of what constitutes an "Africanized" bee
appears to be way out of line with reality. Even the accepted terminology
(e.g. "African" "Africanized") is misleading and should, if possible, be
abandoned. Our observations lead us to conclude that the AB phenomenon is
little more than an extended, over-popularized, case of gene introgression
and selection - an evolutionary process well-documented in many other
organisms under natural conditions. The introduction of African bees into
South America represents the sudden breakdown of an isolating barrier (the
Atlantic ocean), providing the impetus for a unique glimpse of how gene
introgression works in honey' bees."

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR 'AFRICANIZED' HONEY BEES: CONCEPTS STRENGTHENED BY
OUR EXPERIENCES IN COSTA RICA. PART I.
Bee Culture - September, 1986
By ERIC H. ERICKSON, JR., BARBARA J. ERICKSON, and ALLEN M. YOUNG