>Well, from the story I was told, it seemed like a classic case of an African colony. They blew in, killed the goat, and moved on. It was during the time of year when many beekeepers bring bees up from Florida to pollinate apples, 

I do not know what specifically makes it
seem like a "a classic case of an African 
colony".  

I think my description of it matches stories I have heard from South America, but you are right, sometimes European bees do this. I have never seen anything like it myself, however. 

>so we had a plausible scenario. But the Tuscon lab reported the sample I sent as "European".

So what they said was:
"We'll tell you what its not, but we 
will remain vague on what it is"  ?

They are morphing the sample bees,
would that not reveal the race involved?

First of all, the term "race" is no longer used. Secondly, no. It does not reveal the race. What race it the President?

I sometimes wonder why the tests
distinguish specifically if the bees ARE
or ARE NOT AHB, but they leave the
results ambiguous by NOT naming what
race or races were involved.  If it is of 
value to know if its AHB, why is it not 
of value to know the race('s)? 

Surely, you cannot be serious. We have gone over this numerous times. It is not all or nothing. It is not this or that. But to clarify, it's like dogs. Not all pit bulls are vicious, not all vicious dogs are pitbulls. Some cities have outlawed pitbulls, some states have outlawed African bees.

So, there are two issues. Breeds and behavior. If a dog is vicious the law specifies euthanasia. If a colony is vicious, the beekeeper would be wise to get rid of it. If you have a dog that is part pitbull, part labrador, what have you got? Will it be vicious? Would you want someone to condemn it on the basis of it having "pitbull dna"?

Same with bees. If you have a colony that is part African, based on visible signs (wing veins) or genomic testing (they look for small sequences of DNA that are characteristic of the geographic origin), will it be vicious because its lineage goes back to some country in Africa? Should it be killed for that?

Do you really think that Italian bees closely resemble the bees from Italy? That the hybrids of Florida closely resemble anything? We are working with a moving target here. Bottom line is: Do the bees have the qualities you want.

PLB

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