> When we talk ogf the Africanized Honey Bee (AHB bred in Brazil) we are not
> taliking about the African Honey Bee.
 
<I'd like to explain that the Brazilian AHB is the result of a mixture
of
three breeds (Italian, German and African) and there may also have been a
fourth known as "kingdom bee" which was brought by the "Jesuitas", who were
religious men that came to Brazil in the beginning of the Portuguese
colonization to catechize the natives (1600's).
 
Therefore, our AHB is different from the pure African bee.
 
JOSE MARIA DIAS
BRAZIL>
 
 
 
Admittedly I was thinking about the "pure" African Bee ( which is
actually A.m. adansonii -   A.m.scutellata is the transvaal Bee -
although it does extend up the African Rift Valley) but the fact of
the matter is that irrespective of what bees the Africans have been
mixed with, there doesn't seem to be a "dilution" of their
aggression. There seems to be a very dominant aggressive gene which
is most often expressed in their phenotype.
 
Maybe someone who knows more about honeybee genetics could shed some
light on the possible dilution of this aggro gene.
 
What is the honey production of the AHB's like in comparison to other
strains.
 
Cheers
 
 
Gavin Johnston
Bee Laboratory
Rhodes University
Grahamstown