Barry Sergeant <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
If you can accept that "pedigreed"
scutellata can be well behaved, if not gentle, would you not then
accept that other negative traits of scutellata can be "neutralised?" If
that is possible, would it be further be possible to articulate a case to
"unban" scutellata in the continental US?


<snipped>

But I deviate - the fundamental question remains; viz., if beekeepers in
the continental US could accept the idea - and perhaps the fact of - a
gentle version of AM scutellata - would such a version of the alleged
"killer bee" be acceptable? If indeed so, what kind of a pedigree would
esteemed beekeepers such as yourself require?





I don't think this is likely to happen unless our legal system undergoes a radical change.  Americans today are afraid of stinging insects.  The average american doesn't know a wasp from a honeybee, and all insects with stingers are lumped together as "Bees".  If anyone is stung, they are stung by a "Bee" regardless of what the insect actually was, and if there is a beekeeper nearby to blame, they immediately become the subject of criticism, if not blame.

In the US it is very easy to file a lawsuit against soneone you are annoyed with.  This can be suing for medical expenses,  actual damages, or just to get them to stop what they are doing- calling at a nuisance.  It can also be for nothing more than "emotional trauma"  In these cases, it is very hard for the beekeeper to prove that what he is is doing is not wrong, or that his bees are not the insects at fault.

With the encroachment of so called "Killer" bees, the fear has become even bigger.  Logic and facts have little to do with it, and when Americans are scared they legislate against what they fear.  So in many areas it is illegal to keep any type of bee at all- all because of fear.  If a beekeeper was keeping bees that are percieved as "Killers"  he or she would be opening themself up to ruinous lawsuits, weather or not anybody was ever stung.



I'm no lawyer, so if anyone has better comments, or corrections, please do contribute!   I'm just a bit tired of our litigous society.



Ellen in Michigan