Hello Greg & All,

> presumed to be africanized.
> IMO these bees still have a dominate amount of EHB genes still in them,
however this doesn't necessarily help their behavior,

Dr. Kerr isolated the genes which controlled aggressive behavior in AHB.
He believe two and maybe three caused the aggression. Like Greg said the
bees might be mostly EHB but carry the aggressive genetics. You can not tell
by looking! color means nothing!

The bottom line is simple. You are always on the lookout for aggressive
bees. Then you have two choices.

1. kill the bees and sit the equipment aside for reuse.

2. split the hive into three nucs and requeen each.

I have done number two and prefer number one for the commercial beekeeper.

Number two is hard, involves stings and several replacement queens plus the
aggressive workers will be around for another six to eight weeks!

A non residual chemical is available to pest control applicators but not the
public. A few second burst and plug the entrance and the bees are all dead
on the bottom board in approx. about 30 seconds Does not contaminate the wax
*I have been told*.

A pest control applicator license is not hard to get in Missouri. Watch a
one hour video and pay a fee. Not sure about other states.

State bee inspectors may need to get the license.

No need for panic as we have known the AHB problem was coming since 1957!
Does it really matter if the bees  are found by a lab to *possibly* carry
AHB genetics? Why keep aggressive bees around ?

It is our job as beekeepers to inform the public to the possible danger from
swarms, keep yards at a reasonable distance from people, maybe place warning
signs on the entrance to yards and to solve the problem in our own
backyards!

My friends in Texas simply kill off aggressive hives! At first they sent off
samples but why waste our lab resources. A stinging incident maybe but for
aggressive bees lets kill or requeen and get on with life!

As I said before on BEE-L AHb does not scare me! Not to discredit Lloyd's
story but have taken twice as many stings from EHB on several occasions!

Pointing the finger and suing the USDA will not solve the problem. As
beekeepers the world will look to us for their AHB answers! Hollywood and
the media try to scare people. As beekeepers we need to stick to reality!
The honey bee is a valuable part of U.S. agriculture. The industry does not
need a black eye and sensationalism!

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri

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