The present work was carried out to study the maximum flight height that Africanized bees reach in order to collect their food, and if there is preference for a particular height. In an eucaliptus tree, more than 30m tall, a pulley system was fixed which permitted to hang traps at different heights in order to catch insects that fly there looking for food. The mean number of bees caught at seven different heights (from zero to 30m) decreased with height and the best fit obtained was for a linear polinomial. The details of the first height (0-5m), which presented the highest bee concentration, presented a best fit using a second degree polinomial, with a maximum between 1 and 2m, although the greatest observed value corresponded to the height of 3m. There was no difference (P>0.05) between the number of bees caught in the morning and in the afternoon.
africanized honey bees; Apis mellifera; flight height; food collection