Africanized honeybee

[ af-ri-kuh-nahyzd huhn-ee-bee ]

noun

1. a hybrid of the African and European honeybees produced by the mingling of domesticated European colonies with an African colony of notably defensive honeybees. Soon after Africanized honeybees were introduced to an experimental apiary in Brazil in 1956, they escaped into North America, where they continue to spread northward from the American Southwest.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Africanized honeybee¹

First recorded in 1970–75; Africaniz(e) ( def ) + -ed ²( def )