> When we talk ogf the Africanized Honey Bee (AHB bred in Brazil) we are not > taliking about the African Honey Bee. <I'd like to explain that the Brazilian AHB is the result of a mixture of three breeds (Italian, German and African) and there may also have been a fourth known as "kingdom bee" which was brought by the "Jesuitas", who were religious men that came to Brazil in the beginning of the Portuguese colonization to catechize the natives (1600's). Therefore, our AHB is different from the pure African bee. JOSE MARIA DIAS BRAZIL> Admittedly I was thinking about the "pure" African Bee ( which is actually A.m. adansonii - A.m.scutellata is the transvaal Bee - although it does extend up the African Rift Valley) but the fact of the matter is that irrespective of what bees the Africans have been mixed with, there doesn't seem to be a "dilution" of their aggression. There seems to be a very dominant aggressive gene which is most often expressed in their phenotype. Maybe someone who knows more about honeybee genetics could shed some light on the possible dilution of this aggro gene. What is the honey production of the AHB's like in comparison to other strains. Cheers Gavin Johnston Bee Laboratory Rhodes University Grahamstown