Herve,
I didn't mean to offend you Herve. I happen to know there are those in
Brazil which want to ship AHB genetics into the U.S.. They feel now because
we have got AHb why not. A new market!

As a geneticist De Jong should know how AHB genetics work. Its really
simple. Dr. Kerr has it right!

If you want to convince commercial beekeepers in the U.S. we need to raise
queens from mongrel AHB and go to walk away splits then do as I suggested.

Put 400-500 AHB hives in double bodies and feed  four or five gallons of
syrup to get ready for a honey flow. Maintain at 60,000 bees most of the
year. Keep all in a single location. Holding yards of 10,000 are not unusual
in the U.S.. Move 5-10 times a year.

Big difference in the way we keep bees in the U.S. and Brazil. There are
beekeepers and bee havors.

Two AHb hives were in three semi loads of bees in a holding yard. I warned
the two guys feeding the bees to be on the lookout. When I called those guys
they said "we found those two hives you warned us about!" "Smoke only upset
them and they stung by the hundreds"

I killed both hives.

Can you imagine 1350 of those hives instead of two? I have a hard time
keeping help now. Had a guy quit last year over a few stings.
People are law suit happy in the U.S.. Every other person you talk to is a
lawyer it seems looking for a lawsuit!

Please keep your AHB queens south! Thank you! There is a big difference
between leave alone AHb beekeeping and our U.S. migratory beekeeping.

As I said before a AHB with less than 25% AHB genetics is workable for the
most part but let the queen supercede or the bees raise a queen after
swarming and before long the F4  worker is 93.75% africanized if mated with
an AHB drone. Because of swarming the percent AHb in a hive can change in a
summer
to almost pure AHB.

I would love to debate the subject with De Jong on the list. You can not
argue with research. Bring David on! I would bet he would say the AHB he
sees would not work in my setting.

Bob

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