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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
John Mitchell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 8 Sep 2000 07:06:38 EDT
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This was posted to the Florida beekeeper list. I think it's interesting to
see how Africanized bees are manipulated when necessary. More information on
keeping Africanized bees will be needed as they become established in certain
areas of the country. Rumors that these bees are always completely
unmanagable or always wildly violent are not accurate, it seems.

Dr. Tom Sanford is winding down his trip to Equador and will back
home soon. This is just one of his many excursions:

I have returned from a trip south of Quito to collect honey from
colonies in two places called Pasto Calle and Lasso in the shadow of
one of Ecuador's most resplendent snow capped peaks, El Cotopaxi. The
temperament of the honey bees we visited was exemplary. Between the
three of us, we received no more than four stings for a whole day's
work, which included using bee brushes to remove bees from combs of
honey before loading them into the car. It gave me pause. Was this
really the African honey bee (Apis mellifera scutellata)? And if so,
why all the fuss about this insect's defensive behavior? The answer
to the first question was yes and reliable reports that deaths of
both animals and people have indeed been caused by this unpredictable
insect in Ecuador confirm its latter reputation. The source of our
luck during this time was that a honey flow was in progress, and on
this bright, sunny day the conditions for manipulating colonies could
not have been better. It added up to one of the maxims of beekeeping.
One can do almost anything while manipulating bees when the
conditions are right.

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