I am going to write this from long-ago memory so be forgiving of
errors in exact details.  About a decade ago the international bee
meeting was held in Brazil.  Afterwards two German bee scientists
wrote a two part summary in ABJ.  In it they reported that they had
found AHB colonies which were as defensive as reported.  But they
said they could take an observer to numerous colonies of the "German
black bee", Apis mellifera mellifera, in northern Germany (and in
Sweden?) which were every bit as bad.  They noted that the feral bee
population in Brazil into which the A. m. scutellata had escaped was
largely A. m. m.  They wondered, as do I, how much of the excessively
defensive characteristics of "AHB" come from the A. m. m. rather than
from A. m. s.  I have never heard this spoken of since and am
reminded of it whenever Barry describes his scutellata experiences.
Dan


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