> You are right we have only got one state completely capensis now. Let us =
> wait till all of California is capensis before deciding if capensis is a =
> good or bad thing.=

Hmmmm.   So far, this is the first statement (I think) that I have read that
the capensis-like characteristics seen in Arizona bees are indeed because
the bees are capensis, not just capensis-like.

Is there any evidence other than a similarity in some behaviours, or is this
just speculation?

> bee will take over all over strains of bees. Do the Lusby's keep any =
> other strains of bees other than the black super bee?

If you look at my pictures at http://www.internode.net/honeybee/diary/ and
http://photos.yahoo.com/allendick, you will see that most of their bees are
at least partially yellow.  HOWEVER, Dee tells me that to have the good
disease and pest management in a hive, she looks for at least one sub-family
of black bees and selects for that.

>  and  wish the USDA had looked at =
> their hives earlier if capensis genes  are  the cause of the large =
> amount of thelytoky going on in their bees.

I think they have.  Maybe Dee will step out here and say something?

> "Thinking if the bee looks like a capensis and has all the =
> characteristics of capensis it must be capensis"=20

Well, that is just a maybe, and also still a big 'IF'.

allen
http://photos.yahoo.com/allendick