I was just today talking to one of my friends here (who works for the Texas Agricultural Extension
Service) about Africanized honey bees in our local area (Brazos County), and when I asked him
a question regarding the current status for AHB in our county, he responded that he didn't think
the label "Africanized Honey Bee" was a very useful one.  They've been here for 10 years, but
it was only a couple of months ago that some bees in our county were identified as being AHB
because of a stinging incident.  The "common-sense" answer he gave me was that he felt that
unmanaged feral honey bees don't belong in an urban setting and should be eliminated where
they can be a problem.  All honey bees, no matter how you want to categorize them (AHB or
EHB), can be defensive and it's all a matter of degree.  They run a continuum from very gentle to
being very defensive.  If managed hives are in an urban setting and the beekeeper/owner
requeens them with gentle stock if/when they become too defensive, then they are not a problem
in that situation.  He seems to take the position or have the attitude that honeybees should be
managed based on behavior rather than genetics.  In the end, isn't that what it all boils down to?
Destroy or requeen defensive hives or don't keep bees around where people or animals might be
injured or killed.  There is always a degree of risk associated with honey bees, whether great or
small IMHO.  I think I recall Andy saying years ago that if honey bees were genetically tested, we
would find AHB genes scattered all over the U.S. continent in all the commercial operations, and
then all honeybees in North America would have to be declared "Africanized".

Layne Westover, College Station, Texas, U.S.A.