Bob,

Being fluent in Polish, I wrote professor Jerzy Woyke and asked about the research with African bees you had mentioned.  I asked for the professor's permission to post his reply on Bee-L (my English translations follow below).  By the way, professor Jerzy Woyke's website contains a wealth of information on various honeybee subject (www.sggw.waw.pl/~woyke/WoyPage.htm).

>>One of the strangest things I read about africanized bees was in the January 1976 ABJ in Roger Morse column.  Quote: " a researcher from Poland carried africanized queens into Poland from Brazil 1960. The queens began to lay eggs in January exactly like the EU colonies. By May the hives were totally Africanized."<<

Roger Morse was good friends with Jerzy Woyke.

Prof. Woyke:

"Yes, I brought in and kept Apis adansonii (now known as Apis scutellata) for 4 or 5 years in Poland. They typically failed to survive the Polish winter.  To let them survive the winter, I'd introduce them into Polish honey bee colonies.  In the spring the African queens began to lay and Polish bees were replaced with African offspring."

>>Then Roger goes on to say:
" Most interesting was the fact that the aggresive traits of the 
africanized bees were lost in the temperate conditions of Poland"
Roger does not give reference to the Poland study.<<

Prof. Woyke:

"It wasn't that the African bees lost their aggresiveness as much as they stung less than in Africa because of the cooler conditions in Poland.  In Africa, it's best to work these bees in the early morning and late evening when the temperature is cooler.

Just opposite of European honeybee behavior, the African bees stung a lot at noon.  In the beginning, after working hive, I would count 1,400 stings in my gloves.  As time went by and I got better at handling them, I could work the same hive without a veil, gloves, or even a shirt - just in my pants.  The local press in Ghana wrote that a bee magic man had come from Poland.

>>Does the list know of the actual study so I could read?<<

Prof. Woyke:

"Here is a list of some of my work with these bees:

J. Woyke 1973. Experiences with Apis mellifera adansonii in Brazil and in Poland.
	Apiacta 8(3): 115-116

J. Woyke  1968 Pszczoły afrykanskie w Brazylii. [African bees in Brazil.]
	Pszczelarstwo [Polish: Beekeeping] 19(10): 3?6

J. Woyke  1969 African honey bees in Brazil.
	Amer. Bee Journ. 109(99): 342?344

J. Woyke  H. Woyke: 1987 Jak pracować przy agresywnej pszczole afrykańskiej. [How to work aggresive African honeybees.]
	 Pszczelarstwo [Polish: Beekeeping] 38(5): 22

J. Woyke 1990 Biology and management of African bees Apis mellifera
adansonii in Africa.
	 Apiacta 25(4): 97?101

J. Woyke  1991  Czarownik z Polski. (Wywiad) [Magician from Poland. (An interview.)]
	 Pszczelarz Polski [Polish Beekeeper] 2 (9?10): 7?9"

Bob, I hope this is helpul.

Waldemar
Long Island, NY

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