Hi Thomas and All
 
Thoms - you mention that you have a hive with laying workers that has
resisted requeening.
 
I am of the belief that being alarmist about bee problems is not a
good thing, but seeing as there is a slight chance the cape honey bee
has been introduced to the states via a shipping problem, it is wise
to be on the lookout for cape laying worker syndrome.
 
Unlike other laying workers, a cape honey bee hive can and normally
does have laying workers present at all times of year, when the queen
is present especially. Hence removal of the queen usually results in
increased laying worker activity. If however a queen of a race not
used to dealing with this type of behaviour (ie not capensis) is
replaced, the laying workers will kill her. A cape queen will be
accepted. The cape laying worker trait is also theoretically imortal
as it does not require a mating event to pass on - laying workers can
produce up to 300 eggs a day collectivelyy. Some of these workers
will hatch and fly onwards - they are carbon copy (well their
chromosomes have swopped around a bit, but the total of genes is
still the same - so they are not clones, but are pretty close) of
their mother/sister or whatever she is. Hence there is no genetic
dilution of the trait.
 
Cape bees are purported to be active drifters - employing a system of
enhanced drifting to go from one hive to another, infecting all
hives. Hence throwing the workers to the air will result in the
laying workers probably localising on your other hives - I have
watched this in my home apiary when destroying laying worker hives -
advice suggested on the list was that removing all combs and dumping
the workers on the ground a way away would result in only the
non-laying workers flying back. Well, the three times I did this
there were no bees left on the ground, and the bees that flew back to
the hive were slightly fewer in number - but a lot flew back to the
hives next to it.
 
So my adivce for the bees would be - 1 tsp sulphur late at night -
light it and place it in the entrance and then seal the hive
entrance. The S02 will kill the bees and hardly contaminate the
frames.
 
Just a thought.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
After careful consideration, I have decided that if I am ever a V.I.P
the I. may not stand for important.
(rather influential, ignorant, idiotic, intelectual, illadvised etc)