Hello Joao & All,
You are not a commercial beekeeper? Do not make your living from keeping AHB
bees? I only ask as the people I am talking to are. I respect your opinion
and as you say we have talked before and in fact talked about this very
subject.

My only purpose for being on here is to help beekeepers learn. You
speak excellent English as compared to my other friends from your area. I am
happy the primitive methods you are using are working for you but there are
better ways. Lets at least talk about those ways.

I had quite a few emails from my fans saying my post was right on.
Here is quotes from one in broken English as sent. The beekeeper is a lurker
on BEE-L. Hope he does not mind. If you are reading and upset with me
quoting from your private email please understand my ONLY reason is to show
Joao others do not feel the same way as he does.

"Bob,I want ot congratulate you for being so clear about the problem with
AHB. I hope your message will be read for the people from Argentina and
Brazil because Brazil specialist in genetics, since several years, are
trying to export to Argentina and to others countries AHB, telling that
there is no problem to work with them, they are better producing honey and
they are better than Italian bees. Anybody who's a" beekeeper" knows the
truth you are telling in your mail, the rest are only "bee havers"
Thanks a lot for your information."

I apologize to the South American beekeeper for using part of his email to
prove a point. I get many emails from "lurkers' (people which prefer to read
and not post). Keep the emails coming and hopefully you will eventually feel
like posting to the list!

One of the people I have been talking to *is* the queen breeder in Argentina
shipping in the Italian queens. He does not own the operation but manages
the operation for a beekeeper in another country. Commercial beekeepers were
buying shipping containers of bee boxes made in Argentina from the area and
saw a need for European queens (mainly because of the problems with AHB) so
set up the rearing operation.

Barry Seargant of South Africa saw that the method Joao describes is as
primitive as it gets so he learned how to do instrumental insemination ( II)
and tame AHB.
Selecting from AHB can be done with II.but  requeening each year is an
important part of the plan.

Barry S. catches and uses around 600 swarms of "Scut" each year to produce
honey before capensis takes over the hives and kills the colony. Barry has
done many posts on BEE-L about his methods. At his house he keeps a line of
gentle bees with some AHb genetics kept gentle with II.

I am glad you think your method is working but geneticists, others from your
area and South Africa have tried and failed. YOUR METHOD IS BETTER THAN
COMPLETE LEAVE ALONE AHB BEEKEEPING! You are doing some requeening of
undesirable genetics.

After 49 years of research it is hard to still say the method Joao is using
is the best method. I respect you Joao hope we can agree to disagree. I side
with  those which disagree with you at your meetings in Brazil. Your
neighbor above. Think about what I have said.


Your friend,
Bob Harrison

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