I and my fellow beekeepers in the Western Pennsylvania area are concerned
about buying Queens for next April splits. One beekeeper opened one of his
hives a few days ago to treat it for AFB and the bees jumped out of the
hole in the inner cover and from some openings between the brood chambers
and were attacking him. It was a relatively warm day for November --high
60's F. Non of his other hives acted this way. The Queen was bought this
Spring from a Texas breeder. He told me the hive was 'hot' all summer.
Several other beekeepers that used queens from the same shipment had a few
'hot' hives this year.

At the November PA State Beekeepers' meeting there was a lot of concern
about queens coming from states that were considered lost to the
Africanized Honey Bee.

Has anybody else had this problem? We are not only concerned about our own
safety but also about our ability to have bees in our yards that are in
suburban areas. There is a movement in some of our local townships to ban
beekeeping due to worry about Africanized bees.

I doubt that Africanized bees can overwinter here but buying Queens from
states such as Texas, Arizona, California and Florida could present a
problem during the Summer.

One constant remark I have heard is how can you expect to buy Queens from
a breeder in areas 'lost' to the Africanized Honey Bee when the breeder
uses open mating and is surrounded by  Africanized Honey Bees.

Jim



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