Africanized
Honey Bee Update
Africanized entered California in 1994, near Blythe. Until recently they remained principally in Imperial county. In the last few years, they have spread to most of Southern California south of the San Gabriel mountains (i.e. Imperial, San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties), and have most recently been found in Kern County and Ventura County. The map below from the CDFA shows the distribution in 2003 (click on the map for CDFA site for most recent map).
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This represents a slow range expansion in recent years. The same map in 2001 looked like this:
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The map below shows more detail about finds up the May, 1998. (Red spots--where more than one find has been made in a location, the number of finds is also indicated.)
It is also significant that the number colonies found has been increasing greatly each year.
The graph (and table) below show the number of Africanized Honey Bee colonies found in California through March 1997.
(After that time possible AHB finds were not confirmed with DNA analysis unless in a new area or involved in a stinging incident, so more recent data is not strictly comparable.)
Individual finds
The location, date and type of each find is summarized in the following table
Colony = colony established in a cavity
Swarm = swarm in transit to a new nest site
Trap Sample = colony newly established in a survey trap
|
Year |
Find # |
Dates |
City |
County |
Type |
| 1994 | 1 | 24-Oct-94 | Blythe | Riverside | Swarm |
| 1995 | 2 | 17-Mar-95 | Heber | Imperial | Swarm |
| 3 | 20-Mar-95 | Blythe | Riverside | Trap Sample | |
| 4 | 22-Mar-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 5 | 28-Mar-95 | Calipatria | Imperial | Trap Sample | |
| 6 | 4-May-95 | Imperial | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 7 | 3-Jun-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 8 | 8-Jun-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 9 | 24-Jun-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 10 | 3-Aug-95 | Winterhaven | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 11 | 5-Oct-95 | North Shore | Riverside | Swarm | |
| 12 | 10-Oct-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Feral nest | |
| 14 | 28-Nov-95 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 13 | 29-Nov-95 | Blythe | Imperial | Feral nest | |
| 1996 | 15 | 5-Feb-96 | Seeley | Imperial | Feral nest |
| 16 | 1-Mar-96 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 17 | 2-Mar-96 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 18 | 2-Mar-96 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 19 | 7-Mar-96 | Blythe | Riverside | Swarm | |
| 20 | 11-Mar-96 | Calipatria | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 21 | 3-Apr-96 | Silverado Tr | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 22 | 15-Apr-96 | Mecca Beach | Riverside | Swarm | |
| 23 | 3-Jun-96 | Calipatria | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 25 | 4-Jun-96 | Brawley | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 24 | 5-Jun-96 | Niland | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 26 | 10-Jun-96 | Calexico | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 34 | 10-Jun-96 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 33 | 15-Jun-96 | Calexico | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 27 | 24-Jun-96 | Heber | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 30 | 26-Jun-96 | Blythe | Riverside | Swarm | |
| 28 | 1-Jul-96 | Seeley | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 29 | 2-Jul-96 | Brawley | Imperial | Feral nest | |
| 31 | 26-Jul-96 | Anza Borrego | Imperial | Foragers | |
| 32 | 24-Sep-96 | Anza Borrego | Imperial | Foragers | |
| 35 | 9-Nov-96 | Calexico | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 36 | 24-Nov-96 | Seeley | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 37 | 11-Dec-96 | El Centro | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 38 | 27-Dec-96 | Calexico | Imperial | Swarm | |
| 1997 | 39 | 4-Jan-97 | Calexico | Imperial | Swarm |
| 40 | 7-Feb-97 | El Centro | Imperial |