?Bob said:
> Dr. Kerr told us all we really needed to know back in the fifties.
Peter said:
>Fortunately, Dr. Kerr did not feel that way. He has continued to study bees 
>into his late 80s.

You are entitled to your opinion but Dr.Kerr  shared all the USDA Baton 
Rouge needed (Tabor & Reynolds) to deal with the bees which were released. 
He had isolated the genes which caused aggression and had sent semen to the 
lab from AHb without the aggressive genes. He called some of the genes the Y 
genes if I remember correctly.

Dr. Kerr in talks with Reynolds & Tabor was always surprised by the way the 
U.S. handled the possible arrival of AHb in the U.S..

Dr. Kerr field has always been genetics.

At the time the record for the largest honey production was from Scuts 
(still is I believe). Dr. Kerr believed through genetics he could breed out 
the aggressive nature and create a super bee.
The project was dropped by Kerr and trashed in Baton Rouge so no one can say 
for sure a geneticist like Kerr could not have accomplished his goal.

Simple solution to AHB in place now for over 20 years:
The rule In Texas has always been to depopulate aggressive hives. 1 hive in 
80-100 hives is what I hear the most.
Queens are still open mated and the bee industry thrives despite the 
predictions of researchers the arrival of AHb would be the end of commercial 
beekeeping in the area.

bob 

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