>Of the 45 colonies surveyed, workers from 38 colonies (84.4% of the total) exhibited the M4 haplotype, which belongs to the west European A. m. mellifera  subspecies. Workers from the remaining seven colonies (15.6% of the total) exhibited the C1 haplotype, which belongs to the north Mediterranean subspecies A. m. Ligustica.

I would suggest that the problem with temper probably comes from A.m.m./A.m.l. hybridisation - we have seen that all to often in this area.

>One surprising finding from this study was that none of the sampled colonies were Africanized by maternal descent. Given the aggressive temperament of many of the colonies sampled, we hypothesized that some, if not all of the colonies, would exhibit A. m. scutellata  maternal ancestry.

I wonder why this was a 'surprising finding'.  A few years ago we visited both Trinidad (very close to the coast of South America) and Tobago.  Trinidad had Africanised bees that required huge smokers and cowhide gloves, yet on Tobago the bees could be worked without a veil or gloves and very little smoke, if any.  Two years ago we visited Grenada and again saw gentle bees.  Given the position of Domenica, unless someone deliberately moved Africanised bees there, I would not expect them to be there.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W
 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html