Bob St. John wrote:
>
> >I've met a few people from the Transvaal (South Africa) who work on a
> >day to day basis with these bees (A.m.scutellata - the fearsome
> >Killer bee of the Americas) and do very well from them.
> >
> No, they are not the same. I have talked to beekeepers from South Africa and
> their bees are not the Brazilian "killer bees"
> I have worked with a lot of bees all over Ethiopia and while there are some bees
> who are easily offended there are many swarms there that are quite tractable.
> 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