Rick Grossman wrote:
>. . . The bees are smaller than "normal", black bodies with thin yellow
>stripes, and the queen is also mostly (entirely?) black and barely larger in
>size than the workers themselves. . .  This hive is much more aggressive,
>attacking me incessantly when I disturb the hive.  What to AHB's look like
>like and how can one tell if they have them?
 
Rick,
   You might have some black "German" bees there.  They were widespread in
the U.S. before the gentler Italian bee was introduced.  The black bee is
very defensive, and the bees usually "run" off the comb (including open
brood comb) when smoked.  Nasty bees.
 
   Africanized bees are not as dark as you described.
 
   Locate the queen in black bee colonies can be challenging because they
tend to run off the brood.  I worked with these bees in the Fiji Islands for
several years.  To requeen, it is sometimes necessary to move the colony a
few feet to lose a lot of field bees (put weak colony in old location), or
use excluders to prevent the queen from running ahead of you.  She'll often
be found on the bottom board or trying to get through an excluder.
 
  Good luck.
  John in Dallas