>Peter wrote:
>I wonder if folks in the Southern USA have observed this
>takeover by African Bees? I talked to a beekeeper who
>trucks bees back and forth between FL and NY who
>acknowledged that they "get in" to managed hives.
>
>Reply:
>I have never seen anything new. In all the years we have
>kept bees commerciallly, seeing small after swarms go into
>queenless colonies is nothing new.

Right. That's not what I meant. I have seen so-called virgin swarms where a
number of bees go out with a queen on her mating flight.

What I was asking about is "takeover by African Bees" -- where a colony of
European bees is requeened by an African swarm. Evidently this is a
significant threat to migratory beekeepers coming in from other areas.

Supposedly there is a large feral population of African bees in Arizon,
Texas and California and bees from all over the US are moved into these
areas. That's what I was asking about.

Of course, I realize that people may not want to admit their hives contain
Africans. Just thought I'd ask

pb

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