>> Makes one wonder about possible Africanization.

 > That's stretching it a bit.  It would take more than a few 
similarities to  make the jump past wonderment and speculation,

Not really.  We know that bees are hauled all over the US and that this 
includes Africanized areas.  It would be strange indeed if some of that 
gene pool had not leaked into the environment.  Besides, AHB were 
distributed in the US back in the seventies.  If they have survival 
characteristics, those would tend to become more frequent.

 > into the realm of positive identification.

Now that is the interesting question and I am sure someone may be 
working on it, but the answer is not one that is likely to lead to 
promotions and a slap on the back, so I am sure that announcing that 
discovery when it is made and it is just a matter of time,

Additionally, there have to be 1.)  unambiguous base samples with which 
to compare and 2.) criteria to determine exactly at what mix of AHB and 
EHB that the line is drawn and a bee is considered Africanized, plus a 
standard stating how many bees in a hive must meet that criterion.

The term 'Africanized' is very general and possibly not even useful, 
except in a very broad sense.

 > But in the end, who really cares what the genetic make-up of a 
honeybee colony is, if they carry the desired traits which are 
beneficial to beekeeping?

So, I gather we are in agreement?

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