Previous work has identified QTL (quantitative trait loci) influencing individual guarding behavior and colony defense in both Africanized and European honey bees (sting-1, 2, and 3). Several candidate genes isolated from these loci are known to be involved in ethanol sensitivity and tolerance in other organisms. Behavioral assays were developed to determine if these loci also play a role in ethanol sensitivity in honey bees. In a flow-through assay, individual workers from a highly defensive colony exhibited exposure responses (proboscis extension and impaired climbing) significantly faster than bees of the same age from a gentle colony. Consumption assays indicated the gentle individuals were also more willing to feed on higher concentrations of alcoholic sugar syrup than defensive individuals. A QTL mapping experiment was undertaken to identify loci influencing this ethanol sensitivity, with the aims of both confirming the influence of defensive loci on this trait and isolating novel QTL. Through the use of AFLP molecular markers, mapping revealed several loci influencing ethanol sensitivity. However, no defensive QTL were found to link to these loci. It is possible that undetected loci may be influencing these traits in concert and are responsible for the connections seen in behavioral studies. Regardless, candidate genes for these loci will aid in our understanding of how ethanol affects the invertebrate nervous system, and could contribute to comparative genomic studies on ethanol tolerance and metabolism.