>
> interesting conversation, I have spent the last three winters in Fort
> Myers Florida about an hour and a half from the Everglades. I have heard
> that the africanized bee was wide spread here but haven't been getting the
> awful stories about their bad behavior from the public. Our neiborhood is
> right downtown and is full of bees . There are four swarms right on our one
> city block that I know of, one is in the eves of my house, another in a
> hollowed out tree limb, a small colony in a upside down three gallon flower
> pot and one totally in the open, way up in an Australian pine. It maybe
> this city is so full of bees because Mendies a very large commercial
> beekeeper is here along with a few other smaller beekeepers. At any rate
> there are bees in the water meter boxes bees in the ground under tree roots
> bees making  homes in places I would never see up north, are these
> africanized I don't know, they aren't bothering the people here like the
> bees I saw move into Venezuala and Mexico or the bees out west killing
> chained dogs and such. The swarm in the hollowed out tree limb is big and
> its been there at least a year and it is at head height about three feet
> from a busy sidewalk. In talking to a bee inspector from this area I got
> the impression he was running into nasty bees he also said he thought the
> africanized bees here where swarming when the mite load got to a certain
> point and thats  why the rumor they are more resistant then our european
> bees. Im not in the  bees everyday like the inspector but from what Im
> seeing and hearing in the city these bees are manageable. Could it be that
> moisture climates make for less touchy bees and for some reason these city
> swarms are europeanized to a calmer disposition. I thought the africanized
> had the mating advantage and it should be going the other way.
>
>

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