Hi All

It is interesting to read the facts included in the latest APIS. A
nice peace of work.

Reading a number of possible ways of solving a number of problems
facing the AHB (african honey bee) danger zone have occurred to me.

Firstly, the spread of AHB in the southern states will be accelerated
by the arrival of Aethina tumida - aHB have instinctual methods for
dealing with this pest, EHB (european bees) have less of these.
Hence, africanized strains are going to be selected for.

In the old world, the original home of bees, stretching from the cape
of good hope (home to A.m.capensis) to morocco (I think
A.m.intermissa) we have a gradient of AHB's (african honey bees) and
then from the other side of the mediterranean a range of EHBs
stretching northwards.

These bee subspecies form a stable rainbow of bees suited to their
areas. Occasionally a facter causes ones range to expand, sometimes
contract but never more than a few thousand kilometers (eg
A.m.capensis). On a gain continent like africa these are small
distances.

The problem zone in the US is roughly equivalent to some bits of
North Africa - where the bees are much nicer than the sometimes
problematic A.m.scutellata cousins( AHB) invading the states
now.

Given that these bees are in contact with each other in africa, it
would follow that selective introduction of 'better' african
honeybees into places under threat of invasion by the less desireable
AHB would be wise. The populations of feral bees would then stabilise
naturally as they exist in the old world.

 The new bees would be resistant to A.tumida (small hive beetle) and
have the associated benefits of being african (more powerful, better
flight system, faster build up, better mite tolerance, greater
genetic diversity to draw from), yet would not have the negative
stigma which is attached to the superbees (AHB of the scutellata
line).

This is an interesting concept, and will of course clash with most US
legislation - but most aggree it is time that legislation changed
anyhow before US beekeeping completely stagnates itself in an
overbred genetic bottleneck.

Keep well

Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139 South Africa

Time = Honey