Africanized bees

You cannot eyeball Africanized bees

Florida has Africanized honey bees. UF already wrote that in Keeping Bees in Florida. FDACS says you cannot tell them from European stock by looking. Genetic testing only. A porch guess is not an ID.

A wooden hive box in a yard — Same look on a branch. Behavior and genetics are the difference.

It is impossible to visually distinguish Africanized honey bees from European honey bees. Only through genetic testing can the species be verified.
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Africanized Honey Bees.

What actually differs

FDACS names three field facts that are not a magnifying-glass test. Africanized colonies may defend a nest with less provocation, in greater numbers, and for longer distances. They may swarm as many as 16 times a year. European stock more like once or twice. They are less picky about a cavity. Empty spaces, holes, meter boxes, and wall voids get used. European colonies tend to prefer drier sites a few feet off the ground.

That is a behavior difference, not a color chart. A hanging cluster on a mailbox can still be a colony in transit. Stay back. Do not spray. Do not hose it. The swarm page is the stay-back path. FDACS honey bee removal or eradication is the list when bees are already in a structure. UF keeps an Africanized honey bee explainer.

If you keep boxes

Keeping Bees in Florida is the Florida husbandry paper. Gentle stock and a listed inspector beat a rumor. If a sample is needed, contact a local apiary inspector. FDACS-DPI Diagnostics is where material goes. The inspector directory is the live list. A zip-on veil for a registered keeper walking a hot box, not for a neighbor with a spray can. Get this. This page does not sell a spray can for a cluster on a fence.

Stings: Florida Poison Control, 1-800-222-1222. That number is on the FDACS Africanized page. Write it down before you need it.

Can I tell from the stripe on the abdomen?

No. FDACS says visual ID does not work. Do not stand closer to check.

Is a swarm on a branch automatically Africanized?

No. A hanging cluster is often a colony in transit. Stay back. Use the swarm page, a club, or FDACS if it is on a play structure or already in a wall.

Sources

FDACS Africanized honey bees. Visual ID impossible. Swarm counts. Nest choice. Poison Control.
Keeping Bees in Florida. Florida has Africanized bees. Husbandry paper.
UF Africanized honey bees. Same look. Same stay-back rule.
FDACS apiary inspector directory. Who can take a sample.

Most sting victims are pets. They cannot run.Then the guard table on European vs African bees. Stay back from a wall nest.