Hello all,
 
I recently read, in Bee Culture magazine, an off-hand reference to
morphological differences that can distinguish an africanized
honey bee (AHB) from one that is not. Obviously other than aggressive
reactions it would be advantageous to have a reliable way to assess AHB
in a hive. But it would also be nice to do this in the field, at the hive
rather than sending samples off to a lab. Wing length was one of the
more obvious things mentioned in the Bee Culture article.
 
First I was wondering if this is a reliable and/or significant
difference? Is the AHB wing length significantly different
from Europeans bees as a whole and is it significantly
separate from the difference between individual European breeds?
Is it strictly a length difference or other dimensions as well?
 
Second, given that the this physiological difference exists
is it sufficient to create an acoustic difference during flight?
 
I work in an acoustics research laboratory. A co-worker pointed
out that in the 1990 book "Earth" by David Brin, page 262,
Brin uses wing-beat frequency to
discriminate between AHB and regular stock, and then a small "Star
War's" laser to fry the AHB's out of the air. Aside from the issue of
the laser, which I know nothing about, there are several unknowns and
several criticisms in the acoustics of this fabrication.
 
Wing-beat frequency alone would not be sufficient because
there are frequency changes associated with maneuvering shifts,
and with various flight behaviors (I know when a bee is just flying
to land on me and when it is being aggressive by the sound in
flight near my veil) that probably create a variance that
would include the distinctions between AHB and regular bees. If the
sound is acoustically rich enough there might be fundamental signatures
that could go across changes in frequency that could be detected, maybe
not. Then there is the complex issue of isolating and detecting a small,
maneuverable, moving object like a bee; not simple. Then put this bee in
an open acoustic environment (outside, variable weather, humidity,
background noise, echos) and in the presence of false targets;
other bees and other flying insects; what a mess.
 
Okay, so the problem of using acoustic measures in the environment are
fraught with difficulties; what if we brought the bees into the lab?
Could I do controlled acoustic measures on an AHB in the lab and
distinguish it from a regular honeybee?
 
If a reliable difference could be established it could lead from
the fanciful bee-killing laser to a practical, field-test device.
Imagine a portable lab chamber and a laptop to take measurements.
Field bees are caught individually and inserted in the chamber.
Based on acoustic signatures AHB are distinguished from regular bees.
No need to do complicated and time consuming physiological
investigations that are difficult/impossible to do in the field.
 
 
So what does everyone think? Possible?
 
Thanks,
darren kall
 
 
 
 
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Darren Kall Rm: 2C-545
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