>  In upstate NY a goat was killed by honeybees last year.   Peter Borst wanted to check the genetics of that incident (Peter?  Any outcome info?)  There are generally no instances of true "African" aggressiveness here, but when an isolated incident pops up, what do we conclude?

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

There is a general consensus, however, that there are hybrids that cannot be accurately categorized as being to either African or European. I would say the rule is: if the colony is vicious, get rid of it. Otherwise, what difference does it make what genetic markers it is carrying. Further, some strains test "African" because of being descended from Apis mellifera lamarckii, the Egyptian bee. 

Anyway, the subject is breeding hygienic Europeans vs manageable Africans, which is easier? I think the bottom line is neither one is particularly easy. It appears that Weavers may have succeeded in merging several varieties to obtain a suitable mix. I wrote about this in the ABJ last year. I suggested that narrowing by selection may be the wrong approach and that a suitable bee might be created by merging lineages and selecting from those, as they appear to have done.

Pete

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