Hi Dave,

>The reverse is true in UK and is one reason why bee suits have become
progressively more strong in their degree of protection.

Many beekeepers have made their bees aggressive in my opinion because with
stronger suits they have taken to getting lazy about using smoke. Smoke to
me is the beekeeping tool which keeps the bees calm. Used correctly most
hives can be worked without problem. When you enter a hive without smoke
many times you quickly get a few stings to your suit. Without smoke to mask
the alarm odor the bees get on edge. Just like the bees remember a skunk
scratching the front of a hive to feed on bees or another hive trying to rob
through a hole in a box the bees remember the clumsy beekeeper (banging
frames around) and working hives without using a smoker.

Two exceptions to the smoke rule I have seen. AHB and the old black bees of
over forty years ago. Both would attack when smoke was used at times and
boil out the entrance.

>How convinced are you that what you have is actually AMM, have you kept
records and done morphometry on them ?

I have not but they were common when I was a teenager in the rural area of
Florida I grew up in. Also the black bees in Missouri were kept by a
lifelong beekeeper from a rural area in his upper seventies.

The one thing I remember about those bees was the way they were constantly
trying to get to you to sting. If you had a hole in your bee suit or your
veil was loose those bees would find an entrance. Once in Florida I sat at
the kitchen table while my mother scraped  over 60 stingers from me.

For many years  I have worn  only a bugg baffler to work bees (sold by Mid
Con) and is used by campers to protect aganist missquitoes. Not much
protection with aggressive bees. Was enough this year but once last year I
had to get the real suit out but my new helper was really stirring up the
bees with his behavior. With his suit of armor (duck taped at all entrances)
and failure to smoke stings he was the source of the problem. Plus some
robbing was going on with the supers we had pulled. Help is hard to find so
I had to make the best of the situation. The young fellows problem is he was
always talking instead of listening. I learned more from listening than I
ever did talking!

I firmly believe that I need at least a 150 stings a year and up to keep my
full immunity year around. I have had friends which retired to the bee farm
office after years of stings and then get a severe reaction from a single
sting. It is my opinion you need to either.

1.avoid all stings if a hobby
2. get over 150 (number given to me by Steve Carlston MD.)stings a year if
commercial.

>I consider it a pity that Bro. Adam did not put his attention to
cleaning up AMM from the hybridisation that had already occurred,

In my opinion Bro. Adam paved the way for other queen breeders. Cleaning up
Amm would have been of little value to me. I am on a first name basis with
many of todays top queen breeders and none select for as many things as Bro
Adam felt was important to breeding the best bee. Bro. Adam was totally
absorbed in his quest (until the day he passed at 95).

History says Einstein was working with figures on his death bed.

I am not in a class with these people but I wake up at night thinking about
beekeeping and beekeeping problems. I am most content in the bee yard. Least
content doing the backbreaking manual work of beekeeping.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************