"If you are going to keep bees and bring packages & queens into your yards
from areas of  known AHb infestation then you need to be prepared to deal
with the "hot hive" from time to time."

 

That's the bottom line. I'm afraid this may be the tip of the iceberg and it
will be more than "time to time." Other lists talk about more hot hives. I
wrote about mine (last years) in ABJ of a few months ago. Hot bees happen;
you kill them. Let's get used to it. I never mentioned the breeder or the
state and never asked for a refund or consideration. What good would another
queen be when the colony is weeks behind and will never catch up?

 

I don't think mentioning names is "smearing." Every 'keeper that gets a hot
hive is not experienced and could be in some danger if not cautious.
Neighbors and animals could be caught unawares. This list is making people
aware. The trouble is that too few people read it, in the big picture. My
hot bees surprised me.

 

No one is shipping AHB bees. They are shipping queens with AHB semen in
them. It's a little hard to inspect. It's a month or six weeks until that
semen is expressed in a bee that is foraging and defensive. 

 

Many folks including the club I belong to are working at raising queens in
the north.  I can't quote exactly but Jerry Hayes said something like: "The
beekeepers will handle this but it's a problem for the public." We need to
eradicate them when they happen and get on with it. We also need to get
ahead of the curve in educating the public. If a tabloid reporter were
reading this thread he might see a chance for a sensational story. It's
really just a chapter in a story.

 

Dick Marron


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