This is a short-ish story for those who always believed it may be
possible to breed (or at least heavily dilute) all the undesirable
characteristics out of the African honeybee, and reinforce its best
characteristics.

In attempting to answer questions raised by Bob Harrison, et al, I’ve
decided to try and run a summarised sub headed list of what’s going
on with AM scutellata (“scuts,” as we call them) in one of its home
countries.

RACES

There are two main honeybee races in South Africa, AM capensis,
found in and around Cape Town. This area, the Western Cape, is one
of only two small areas in Africa with a Mediterranean climate (winter
rains). Scuts range over the rest of the country. There is, allegedly,
another race in the north-east near Mozambique. Scuts are “yellow”
bees and capensis “black.”

THE PROBLEM

Scut colonies are killed wholesale by capensis. Everyone has their
own way of describing the phenomenon. Suffice to say that in practical
terms, once capensis behaviour starts to dominate a scut colony, that
colony is economically dead. In essence, all you need is a single
capensis worker to get into a scut hive - rather like a robber bee. Given
a chance (mainly stress, e.g., a power flow, or migration), this
capensis worker dons the mantle of a queen.

She starts laying as her phenorome output increases. The scuts kill
their own queen, and that’s the beginning of the end. In cases of
severe infestation, you find single cells with a dozen or more eggs. Of
course, capensis is famous in the bee world for being the only race in
the world in which workers can lay eggs that can be grown into
queens. The obvious question: why not ignore the scuts, and run pure
capensis colonies? The answer: outside its (small) natural range,
capensis is a very poor second to the scut in every possible category,
and a particularly poor honey producer.

It’s doubtful South Africa has any pure scuts left; most colonies are
scut-capensis hybrids. For practical purposes, however, a scut colony
is instantly recognisable, and those bees are “scuts.” It’s difficult to
know the extent of economic damage occasioned by capensis. The
problem really started about a decade ago, when some beekeepers
allegedly migrated capensis colonies from around Cape Town to the
fabled aloe davyana winter flow near Pretoria.

The initial destruction was such that the government paid beekeepers
a certain amount for each colony lost. Today, commercial and other
beekeepers continue to trap wild swarms, which are extremely
abundant in certain parts of the country. The average life of these
swarms - under migratory conditions - is estimated at nine months
before capensis kills. Usually, up to two thirds of colonies migrated to
a new location will fall to capensis.

Each hive that succumbs presents the following problems: lost honey
production; the bees must be killed; the brood chamber comb must
mostly be removed, and the hive moved, restocked and placed on new
ground.

THE “WILD” SCUT

Wild scuts just trapped are usually healthy and normal. After a few
weeks in a  ten frame Langstroth hive (the standard in this country,
along with shallow honey supers) you’ll find the odd braula and small
hive beetle. Seasonally, chalkbrood and EF may appear. There has
been no known cases of AFB; nosema is rare and tracheal mites are
never mentioned. Wax moths and hive beetles are management, not
bee, problems.

It’s probably fair to say that every swarm in the country has varroa, but
commercial beekeepers don’t treat for it, with capensis limiting the
colony life to about nine months. It’s known, however, that beekeepers
with pure capensis colonies in their home range (sans a “capensis”
problem) are being ravaged by varroa, and treat extensively for it.

Anyhow, a wild scut colony is truly a tough thing to deal with. Open up
one of these hives and all the smoke in the world often seems to just
make the bees more angry.  Without protection, one of these colonies
will kill you.  However, also bear in mind that wild scuts are erratic in
temperament. You may be working a hive and finding that the bees
are quite calm. Then, for no reason, they break into a wild attacking
frenzy in a split-second. You pick this up in the bees’ sound, and
seconds later you can feel the venom spitting onto your face where
bees have stung through the veil.

You must never show these bees you are scared, and never feel fear;
they can smell fear.

On some flows, the bees are very well behaved and not interested in
stinging. But a few weeks later when the flow has dried up these bees
will kill you. It’s difficult to say exactly what triggers stinging, given the
scut’s erratic temperament. Having said that, work a number of hives
at the same location, and you will notice distinct and different degrees
of aggression from hive to hive. You could rate them from best to
worst.

A hive with capensis is not aggressive; when you open the lid, there is
a dead sound. It seems that the bees already know it’s tickets; there’s
nothing worth fighting about.

SCUTS ARE UNSUITABLE FOR COMMERCIAL HONEY
PRODUCTION

The wild scut is unsuitable for commercial honey production for
numerous reasons, including the following (in order of importance):
peracute defensive behaviour; extreme stress from handling
(including “sprinting” across the combs under examination, and
overflowing out of hive bodies); massive stress from migration to new
locations; weak levels of queen phenorome (double brood chambers
are extremely rare; more so with capensis), and a well developed
absconding instinct.

THE APICROWN JOINT VENTURE

For some 20 years, full-time scientist (biochemist) and part-time
major beekeeper Lardus Erasmus has been breeding queens. He
and I are currently involved in a joint venture to commercialise a type of
queen bred by Lardus to exacting standards. For practical purposes,
these queens are scuts. They exhibit the following characteristics:
1. Selection against capensis characteristics, and against any
abnormal scut behaviour. Any lines exhibiting these characteristics
were eliminated. The key factor to avoid was laying workers.
2. Hygiene
3. Disease resistance
4. Matching brood formation levels to nectar and pollen cycles
5. Very low absconding tendencies
6. Docility (but highly aggressive to robber bees)
7. Low propolis formation
8. A slightly larger bee, and to get larger in future bees
9. Excellent orientation to the hive

An interesting behavioural characteristic that has arisen as an aside
is that ApiCrown workers are very highly attached to their queen;
almost “affectionate.”

I have noted docility low down on the list, as it is seen as a normal
requirement in queens of this quality. The anti-capensis phenorome
levels are by far and away the most important characteristic in these
queens, at least in this country. There have been questions over how
phenorome levels have been tested; suffice to say that a combination
of laboratory (mass-spectrometry) and practical tests have been
applied. The latter comprised mainly the behaviour of workers bees
towards caged queens.

The genetic markers in these instrumentally inseminated queens are
such that only daughters of these queens will be released. These
daughters will be open mated and laying eggs before shipping.

The original rootstock of these ApiCrown queens can be traced back
to “normal” wild scuts.


THE IDEAL SCUT

We believe (in fact, already know) that these ApiCrown queens will
produce colonies highly suited to commercial honey production. The
bees are docile primarily in order to reduce stress - and second, to be
kind to the beekeeper. When you lift a comb covered with bees from
one of these hives, the bees remain totally calm and just carry on
doing their normal work.

Any time of day or night, you can pick one of these hives up and walk
off with it, making even long-distance migration a pushover. If you
stand and block the hive entrance level, the bees collect in a small
swarm and wait for you to move. If you really want, you can open a hive
lid and work the bees without using smoke. You may have a few
dozen, at the most, buzzing around your head.

A HIDDEN TREASURE CHEST?

Capensis has wiped out any number of beekeepers in South Africa.
Today, the wild bee is a hybrid, and capensis continues to destroy on
a wholesale basis. Is there a silver lining? Perhaps: the hybrid has
provided material that has enabled a scientific breeding programme
to - hopefully - extract the best of the scut characteristics, and the best
of capensis. The “best of” capensis is pretty much limited to a single
factor: stronger queen phenorome levels.

SUMMARY

In terms of enemies (including man), the scut lives on the most
dangerous continent in the world. Some animals and birds are so
specialised as to have honey in their names, to wit, the honey badger
and the honeyguides. Along with extremely erratic and variable
weather, the scut developed into an highly  adaptable and defensive
creature. It lives anywhere, including underground and in the open,
and can be found in a truly impressive range of geographical
localities.

The scut is probably the toughest bee in the world, coping admirably
with new diseases. Its downfall, ironically, has proved to be another
bee.


THE FUTURE

The ApiCrown joint venture continues to improve its breeder queens
on a persistent basis. The current ApiCrown breeder queens have 18
generations behind them, and seven years of laboratory work and
time-consuming field testing. Hundreds upon hundreds of queens
have been culled.

ApiCrown is also most interested in importing pure scuts from
another country on the continent. Negotiations for this event are
advanced; the main difficulty is convincing domestic government
officials, possibly intimidated by capensis, that these scuts are simply
intended for inclusion in a long-term genetic pool.

AN INVITATION
For all those booked to come to Apimondia in South Africa later this
year, this is an open invitation to come and visit with these ApiCrown
queens and their workers and drones. Just keep in touch by e-mail.
Remember: veils and gloves are not required!


Barry Sergeant
Kyalami
South Africa

Lardus Erasmus
[log in to unmask]
Potchefstroom
South Africa