Feral bees in Texas & Arizona

Varroa mites were first recorded on the Welder Refuge (Texas) in 1995. By
1996, the feral populations had declined dramatically. Africanization began
to increase in 1995, with all the colonies Africanized by 1998. These data
suggest populations of European feral honey bees were decimated by Varroa
mites in 1995, and then replaced by Africanized honey bees in the following
years. ...

The decline in the feral population corresponded to the arrival of Varroa
mites, while the recovery can be attributed to the arrival of Africanized
honey bees. Further investigation using a landscape ecological approach
provides promise for predicting the role of Africanized bees in more
northern latitudes.

* * *

Actually, all honey bees are imports to the New World. Those that flourished
here before the arrival of Africanized honey bees (AHBs) are considered
European honey bees (EHBs), because they were introduced by European
colonists in the 1600s and 1700s. EHBs that escaped from domestication are
considered feral rather than wild.

"Early on, we thought the mixing would reach a steady state of
hybridization, because we knew the two groups of bees can easily interbreed
and produce young," DeGrandi-Hoffman says. "But while substantial
hybridization does occur when AHBs first move into areas with strong
resident EHB populations, over time European traits tend to be lost."

"Varroa mites emptied the ecological niche of feral honey bees just as AHBs
arrived," says DeGrandi-Hoffman. "If they hadn't been moving into a
decimated environment, AHBs might not have replaced EHBs so quickly."

Virgin queens fathered by African drones emerge as much as a day earlier
than European-patriline queens. This enables them to destroy rival queens
that are still developing. African virgin queens are more successful
fighters, too, which gives them a significant advantage if they encounter
other virgin queens in the colony.

AHB swarms also practice "nest usurpation," meaning they invade EHB colonies
and replace resident queens with the swarm's African queen. Nest usurpation
causes loss of European matrilines as well as patrilines. "In Arizona, we've
seen usurpation rates as high as 20 to 30 percent," says DeGrandi-Hoffman.

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