I fully realize that EHB can be very aggressive. I have far less
experience than others on this list, but I do know what it feels like
for several hundred workers to attack your veil so that their weight
pushes the veil in, making the suit have very little protection as you
are stung more times than is easy to count. Going up to a quarter mile
away from the hive, you are still being stung in a full suit. I live on
many acres, but many beekeepers I know live on very little property
where children can easily come into contact with aggressive bees. Yes,
the child is wrong for being there, but I would not want to be the one
explaining that to a jury. When the media uses africanized honey bees
(correctly or not) to arouse fear and sell more publications, the public
is very likely to act.

I have talked to and read the articles of many researchers on AHB. Their
conclusions were that when a EHB queen mates with AHB drones the
offspring are fully AHB. The worker's genes are not part AHB and part
EHB. Since the AHB drone flies at a later time than the EHB drone, the
EHB queen is more likely to be mated with AHB drones in the same area.
Researchers have told me this is because the AHB drones' flight times
better match the EHB virgin queen's mating flight times.

My question is that if only a few of the many drones the queen mates
with are AHB, then are just some of the workers AHB? Can the presence in
a hive of some AHB workers cause other non AHB to also be aggressive? Is
there any research data on this? I have done a lot of looking in books
and extensively on the web and have not found the answers yet.

In reading the various post on AHB, it is fine for an experienced
beekeeper to say he is not afraid of AHB.  The problem for all of us
beekeepers is that the public IS. Whether that is right or wrong is
totally insignificant when we as beekeepers consider that it is this
fearful part of the public who make laws that can shut us down. Because
of their fear, they can cause laws to be enacted that are designed to
protect them and their children from bee attacks. We are all well aware
of the extra sensationalism of the various news media on this subject.
Insurance rates for beekeepers will become totally unrealistic in any
populated area.

Can we just focus our positive energies on getting our national
government to better see what will happen if not only the commercial
beekeeper but the small and new beekeepers are legislated away? What
will be the cost to our food supplies and the economy of this country
for the short sightedness of the public and the lawmaker?. We only need
a few national incidents affecting the elderly or children for the news
media to cause an hysteria requiring laws to protect those in fear.

I appreciate that so many of you have shared information about what your
feelings and experiences have been in this matter for the rest of us to
learn from. Unfortunately emails are permanent public records in today's
world, as you know. When we discuss most beekeeping problems our
differences of opinion are not going to come back on us in court.
However, should a beekeeper here have a situation where it could be
shown that their bees were the attacking bees, then our prior attitude
could be subject to civil and/or criminal prosecution. Therefore, how we
say something in these emails relevant to a perceived public danger is
very important. Obviously we want to be able to continue our
discussions, so that issues can be raised and solved. In court the focus
in a civil and/or criminal matter can be what our prior attitudes were
on the matter.

Every state needs to take responsibility for the beekeepers' problems
with AHB. Making legislators more aware of the problems then removes the
problems from the beekeeper and onto the legislators, because the
legislators can not just say "Well no one told me anything about this"!

We are beekeepers because of our independent natures. When our freedom
as beekeepers is affected, we are better united to correct the problems
while we are still in a position to do so.

Michael


>

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---