Hi Barry and All
 
Barry you mentioned that you were worried that the beetles may be
able to survive winters in South Carolina.
 
I have talked to Rod about the climate in SC and it seems winter is
sort of like a bad winter here, with temperatures similar to areas
like the western cape province (where Cape Town is - at the tip of
africa), the beetle does however survive much further inland.
But it has a helper, where bees can survive, it can. They don't
overwinter outside the hives, but rather inside, where I believe they
are even fed by the bees.
 
I have watched bees 'licking' beetles in cells. The bees cannot get
into the cells to get the beetles out, but they lick them, as they do
everything. Often you see the beetle sort of 'licks' back at the
proboscis. It think in this way the bees accidentally feed the
beetles. Maybe they even use a pheremone to trigger this mistake??
 
Also, my geuss would be that if large numbers have been found in SC
already (as it sounds), they have probably been there one or two
seasons.
 
But this is all overhyped. I am sure buckfast and other bees with
good african genes will soon adapt to them, and everything will sort
itself out. Brother Adam is said to have included african bee lines
in his original buckfast concoction to increase among other things
cleanliness, so maybe his foresigh will pay of.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
 
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
After careful consideration, I have decided that if I am ever a V.I.P
the I. may not stand for important.
(rather influential, ignorant, idiotic, intelectual, illadvised etc)