Hello Bob & all

> why would you need to "tame a scut"?

You need to tame a scut primarily to ensure successful migration of
beehives, even over long distances. That means, first, bees that
remain totally calm on comb when removed from the hive. Second,
bees that remain calm when the hive is disturbed generally. That
these calm bees are a pleasure to work with is a by-product of the
main objective.


> I realize you have only got scut and capensis to work with and I
commend you on your results! I on the other hand have a great many
queens to choose from with the traits I am looking for allready in the
US.

Bob, if I understand it from other discussions, you guys have
problems with varroa, big time, and other pests/diseases such as
SHB. I don't understand you classifying such bees as having the traits
you are "looking for." I'm not saying scuts are immune to all pests and
diseases, but they sure are tough bees. As you can see from my other
postings, I remain mystified by how scuts seem to laugh varroa mites
out of the hive.

> How many generations did it take? Did you inbreed like Dr. Kerr did?
What will the supersedure and open mated queens be like?

More than 20 generations over seven years, following the (Page)
closed population breeding model. I only see supersedure in about
one of 50 of open mated queens. That, in turn, could be due to
accidental damage to the queen by the beekeeper (or similar). In
general, the open mated daughters are not quite as gentle as the
mother queens.

> Yellow IS the SCUT color. If your '"wild scuts" are not yellow then they
are mongrel or AHB.

The wild scuts are yellow all right. In this particular breeder queen, I
am talking about an extreme yellow; not unlike the Cordovan in the US.
But the extreme colour is accompanied by normal pigmentation
(unlike the Cordovan); there are still thin dark bands on the abdomen.
This queen's drones are also very yellow; wild scut drones are
normally black, although in some areas they may have thin golden
bands on the abdomen.

> Couldn't you breed the bad genes from capensis?   Dr. Kerr said it
could be done!  Maybe changing capensis would solve your bigger
problem.

This is not a bad idea, Bob. But this would mean that you would have
to breed queens who produce workers who cannot clone themselves
(i.e., capensis' bee-killer weapon). What we have tried to do is similar
- produce scutellata queens which produce workers that DO NOT lay
either drone or worker eggs in the first place. After weeks of enforced
queenlessness, the "worst" expected would be workers laying drone
eggs.

> Why would we want a gentle version? You say they do not produce a
huge amount of honey.

The issue of gentle behaviour is covered above. The different
pedigreed breeder queens each produce colonies that will at least
match wild scutellata honey yields. Sisters of the yellow breeder
queen mentioned this winter produced an average of 33% more
honey than test wild colonies on the aloe davyana flow.

> In Texas they find AHB by kicking the box real hard. If the bees boil
out they  "most likely" are AHB. They never check for sure because if
they boil out at a kick they still need requeening. What do your gentle
version of scuts do when the hive is kicked real hard?

Bob, I've never tried kicking as you describe. But what I can say is that
you can pick up one of these gentle scutellata hives day or night
without smoking, and walk off with it.

Best regards

Barry in Kyalami