Isis writes: So far as I know, nobody has ever proven that this has *ever*
taken place anywhere.

Lusby: Let's say remember Prof Baudoux of Belgium and some of his best
writings of 1933 and 1934 in Bee World. Also the Paris Convention of the 1930s.

?? This hardly constitutes proof of anything.

De Jong writes:

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera, Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Brazil are
tolerant of infestations with the exotic ectoparasitic mite, Varroa
destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae), while the European honey bees used in
apiculture throughout most of the world are severely affected. Africanized
honey bees are normally kept in hives with both naturally built small width
brood cells and with brood cells made from European-sized foundation, yet we
know that comb cell size has an effect on varroa reproductive behavior.

As varroa is more prevalent in the larger European-sized brood cells than in
the naturally built Africanized worker brood cells, the use of unnaturally
large comb cell size should be re-examined in the light of its effect on
parasite levels. Varroa's preference for larger comb cells could be a
contributing factor to the 60% higher infestation rates of adult bees that
was found in apiary colonies, which contain both Italian- and
Africanized-sized comb, compared to feral Africanized colonies, with only
natural-sized Africanized comb, examined in the same region in Brazil.


see:

The influence of brood comb cell size on the reproductive behavior of the
ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor in Africanized honey bee colonies

http://www.funpecrp.com.br/gmr/year2003/vol1-2/gmr0057_full_text.htm

* * *

Lusby: Thinking newer beekeepers should read a little of past history to
know what is happening today.

?? You don't know whether I am a "new beekeeper" or not.

Isis Glass

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