Thought about an interesting phenomenon I came across this summer, and one that I have heard about occuring elsewhere.  The water meters in the communities around here are located in a box under the ground; i.e. inline with the underground water lines.  On several occasions this summer I have heard about and come across incidents where honey bees have attempted to establish colonies in these meters.  As far as is known, my area (southwest Alabama) is still devoid of Africanized bees.  This question is probably better directed towards our elderly statesmen in the beekeeping community.  Have you heard of honey bees trying to establish colonies in underground cavities years ago?  As far as is known, is this event something of a recent occurance?  If this was a pretty rare event years ago, would this proclivity to colonize in underground cavities be an indication of the presence of possible African genes in our current local stock due to the purchase of open mated queens from
 those areas that have been infestated with Africanized bees?

Something to ponder,

Mike in LA  (Lower Alabama)

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