Wing length is typically used as a quick assessment to distinguish between European honey bees and African ones. In a recent study done in Puerto Rico, the wing length of bees collected in 1945 clearly range from 9 to 10 mm. After 1995, the range was quite clearly clustered in the 8.5 to 9 mm range.

They state:
> Bees with wing lengths < 9 mm are considered Africanized, while those > 9 mm are considered European. The museum data corroborate the virtual complete Africanization of the honeybees on the island since 1994, based on independently collected bee samples across the island.

Gentle Africanized bees on an oceanic island
Bert Rivera-Marchand, et al. Evolutionary Applications (2012)

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Studies done on bees in 1924 showed that the wing varied somewhat according to the age of the comb. They found bees from new comb had wing lengths averaging 9.4 mm and combs used for 15 generations (based on layers of cocoons) had lengths averaging 9.2 mm. These were never low enough to misclassify them by the above criteria

Biometrical Studies on Variation and Races of the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.)
W. W. Alpatov The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Mar., 1929), pp. 1-58

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Ruttner measured wings in 1988 and found a range of averages from Alpine (Austria) 9.40, Pannonian (Hungary) 9.26; Dalmatia (Croatia) 9.17

A review of methods for discrimination of honey bee populations as applied to European beekeeping
Maria Bouga, et al. Journal of Apicultural Research 50(1): 51-84 (2011)

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> If the midpoint between the means, 8.885 mm, is used to separate the groups, then the probability of misclassifying a collection of Africanized bees as European and vice versa on the basis of forewing length is computed to be 7.5%. 

Identification of Africanized Honeybees in the Western Hemisphere by Discriminant Analysis
Howell V. Daly and Steven S. Balling. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Oct., 1978), pp. 857-869


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Peter L Borst
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