Garth -
 
Here in Louisiana, my gentle bees, even if undisturbed, routinely will
make unprovoked attacks on black workers as much as ten yards away.  I
have laid this to the highly-scented after-shave lotions that these
individuals regularly use.  I wonder if the black victims of your bees
use similar cosmetics.
 
I have noticed the same sort of "discrimination" with mosquitoes also.
For example, a black man and I were building fences around the farm, both
sweating like mules, and he was being eaten alive by mosquitoes while I
was receiving hardly a bite.  I remarked on this experience to a New
Orleans physician who replied matter-of-factly that some individuals
excrete certain B-vitamins in their perspiration, and that this repels
mosquitoes.  He said further that he had tried for years to find a way to
apply this knowledge for the benefit of the public and his financial
gain, but was totally unsuccessful.  Note:  my wife and our children do
not share my mosquito-repelling characteristic.  Recessive trait,
perhaps, having nothing to do with black/white differences.
 
Walter Weller
Post Office Box 270
Wakefield, Louisiana  70784
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On Thu, 23 Oct 1997 13:22:14 GMT+0200 Garth <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>Hi All
>
>As a beekeeper I have noticed that bees are very bigoted in who they
>sting. I keep a number of hives in places where they are near farm
>environments. This usually means that both black and white peolple
>will be near the bee hive. I have noticed thatt bees will sting black
>people who are fifty metres away, ignoring myself or a number of
>other white beekeepers I have spoken to. Interestingly enough,
>people of mixed origin, even with straightened hair still get zapped
>so there may be another factor. (I have also noticed that bees sting
>dogs and birds but not cats - hair type/feather typpe?)
>
>So, I have noticed that it appears to be curly hair among other
>aspects that triggers bees. But the interesting thing is, if this is
>an inherited response of african bees to their natural predator,
>african people, they technically are not seeing whites etc as a
>danger. Now in europe, a predator of bees for many years when the
>skep system was used was man. In areas where raiding a skep killed
>the bees such as the UK the bees are aggressive, and in areas where
>the climate allowed them to survive more they are less so, eg the
>italians.
>
>So, do european bees ignore black people and preferentially sting
>whites? Just a thought.
>
>Keep well
>
>Garth
>---
>Garth Cambray       Kamdini Apiaries
>15 Park Road        Apis melifera capensis
>Grahamstown         800mm annual precipitation
>6139
>Eastern Cape
>South Africa               Phone 27-0461-311663
>
>3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology    Rhodes University
>In general, generalisations are bad.
>Interests: Flii's and Bees.
>