Howdy Ho!
    Can anyone out there clearify what is meant by an "africanized
honey bee". To my understanding the subspecies Apis mellifera
scutellata, A.m. capensis and/or A.m. adansonii were imported to
south america from africa, and that the escaped drones of african
honey bees (I use the term "african" to refer to those subspecies that
originated in africa) freely mated with neighboring European queens.
If this scenario is true, could the European subspecies (A.m.
mellifera, A.m. ligustica, etc.) inherit the "africanized" condition?
Since aggressiveness is a highly adaptive trait at least for bees
under duress, the proliferation of "africanized" genes poses a real
danger to domestic honey bee populations in the northern U.S. and
Canada, especially at higher latitudes, where honey bees form winter
clusters and accumulate adequate fat reserves in their bodies to
overwinter. To put it more succinctly, "African bee"= physical
migration; "Africanized bee" = genetic migration. The latter being of
greater concern to northern apiculturalists. Forgive me all, if I use
the word "africanized" to loosely or inappropriately! So if anybody
out there can enlighten this inexperienced forager on this heated
topic, your input would be greatly appreciated.... Blair
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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                  ____________________________________
                  BLAIR SAMPSON
                  Dept. of Biology
                  Acadia University
                  Wolfville, N.S.
                  BOP 1XO, Canada
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