> Getting back to the original point, AHB and European bees have not shown > hybridization in the natural laboratory. There has not been documented Apis > meliffera meliffellata of Apis meliffera scuteliffera or whatever one would > call the hybrid. Nor has there been a definitive explanation why. As it's > played out in the natural settings, when scutellata colonizes an area, the > Europeans disappear. > > Aaron Morris A quote for thought: "European" bees, those kept by beekeepers in the Americas, are usually described as a mixture of races (and genes). It is further accepted by most experts that "African" bees in South America outcross with "European" bees there. Interestingly however, the progeny of this crossbreeding are then called "Africanized" - no longer a variable mixture of races (albiet somewhat expanded) even though only a single race (African) with some admittedly less desirable traits has been added to the genetic base. We think it equally or more appropriate to say that the African bees became Europeanized. The popular concept of what constitutes an "Africanized" bee appears to be way out of line with reality. Even the accepted terminology (e.g. "African" "Africanized") is misleading and should, if possible, be abandoned. Our observations lead us to conclude that the AB phenomenon is little more than an extended, over-popularized, case of gene introgression and selection - an evolutionary process well-documented in many other organisms under natural conditions. The introduction of African bees into South America represents the sudden breakdown of an isolating barrier (the Atlantic ocean), providing the impetus for a unique glimpse of how gene introgression works in honey' bees." MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR 'AFRICANIZED' HONEY BEES: CONCEPTS STRENGTHENED BY OUR EXPERIENCES IN COSTA RICA. PART I. Bee Culture - September, 1986 By ERIC H. ERICKSON, JR., BARBARA J. ERICKSON, and ALLEN M. YOUNG