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 AT&T Bell Laboratories 600 Mountain Ave., Murray Hill, NJ, 07974 Darren Kall Rm: 2C-545 Voice/TDD:(908)-582-3974 fax :(908)-582-7308 email:[log in to unmask]