MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA EVIDENCE FOR THE 19TH-CENTURY INTRODUCTION OF AFRICAN HONEY-BEES INTO THE UNITED-STATES

Since the introduction of an African subspecies into Brazil in the mid-1950's1, descendent 'Africanized' honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) have spread throughout the Neotropics and into temperate North America. Restriction enzyme analysis of 422 feral honey bee colonies collected from non-Africanized areas in the southern United States revealed that over 21% of them had mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from a European race established in North America by the 17th century, 77% of them had mtDNA common in honey bees maintained by beekeepers and about 1% exhibited African mtDNA. Further analysis revealed that the African mtDNA was derived from a north African subspecies imported to the US in the 19th century.