Influencing Matings of European Honey Bee Queens in Areas with Africanized Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Manipulation of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) drone population near a mating apiary was investigated as a method for increasing the frequency of European drones that mate with European queens in an area of Africanized honey bees. Thirty percent of the matings were controlled with only four European drone source colonies, and 40% were controlled with seven colonies. If queen producers can tolerate low levels of mismating, they may not have to drastically alter their management practices.