Hi Mark,
mark berninghausen wrote:
> Dennis,
> I am employed seasonally as an Apiary Inspector in New York State. What can I do to prepare myself for AHb?
First, know that you can encounter AHBs. I can't spot them by
appearance. But they are pretty easy to spot by behavior, especially if
an AHB colony is worked more than once. When working unknown bees,
always have a smoker lit and a veil on. And always have other protective
gear available. It's very important not to let anything get out of
control. Don't bang, bump, jar any unknown hives without smoking the
entrance first. And then give the smoke a few minutes to work. An
alarmed AHB hive will even attack the smoker and many bees will die
inside it.
If the hives you're inspecting are located in a more populated area be
double cautious. If anything seems out of the ordinary, back off. I
would be especially cautious if the bees appear exceptionally runny.
I've seen AHBs almost completely evacuate a hive after just a couple
good puffs of smoke under the cover.
I've often thought that it would be a good idea to have a very quick way
of killing a vicious colony while keeping the guard bees grounded. After
my AHB encounter, a dead, vicious hive is a much better option than
spending half a day worrying and watching so the bees won't hurt some
vulnerable human being. I'm thinking that a garden sprayer charged with
a soapy solution might just work. But it would have to be ready, just
like a smoker. And used at the first indication of loss of control.
> Is it possible, in your opinion, for Africanized traits ,such as stinging behavior, to be present and express themselves in bees who when tested with the FABIS testshow results that read European .999, Non-European .001?
Yes. But as a practical matter, you or others will probably work the
bees BEFORE any morphic tests are conducted. The tests would be done
only after a nasty incident occurs. Hopefully, probably, all the
offending bees will be dead at that point. And no one will have needed
to called the ambulance.
> Do you have any faith in laboratory tests such as FABIS or mtDNA? Or are they necessary? Will we know them when we see them? And therefore, no testing is needed? I would like to here your opinion, as well as others. This discussion has been going on, on numerous lists, lately and needs to continue so that we are all prepared.
>
Testing might confirm a hunch. But once the genes are in the bee
population, not much can be done to control or eliminate the problem.
Just look at what happened when the AHBs migrated north. I expect that
much the same will happen here. The real test will probably be bee
behavior and public perception. Nasty hives won't be tolerated anywhere.
And hives will be generally relegated to more remote areas where risk
and liability are at a minimum.
If you get a chance, read that ABJ article I talked about. It's on page
795 of the October 2003 edition. It's very definitive on the bees before
and after AHB. And I would dare anyone keeping non-AHBs to say they've
had a similar experience with them.
Also, it could be that, your focus as a bee inspector might change
dramatically. Pubic safety might replace bee health.
Just some thoughts.
Regards
Dennis
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