Why are African honey bees called African honey bees?

That they are native to the African continent is the reason why African honey bees are so called.

Specifically, the African honey bee (Apis mellifera scutellata

) can be found natively in central and much of southern Africa. It faces competition from the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) in southernmost South Africa. In turn, it offers competition to introduced European honey bees (Apis mellifera), which are less aggressive all the while producing far more honey.