INTRODUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF EUROPEAN QUEENS IN AFRICANIZED AND EUROPEAN HONEY-BEE (APIS-MELLIFERA L) COLONIES

The acceptance rate of European queens in honey bee colonies was deter mined, Queens were introduced in 38 Africanized and in 37 European bee colonies. Queen introduction was performed with the traditional Bento n mailing-cage method. Queen acceptance in both types of colonies did not differ. 83.8% and 89.4% of the queens were accepted in European an d Africanized colonies, respectively. Our results suggest that the acc eptance of European queens in Africanized bee colonies should not be a n additional problem for North American beekeepers.