Just so every knows Scuts do very well in temperate climates as well as
climates that get downright cold in winter.

I had 40 hives of some of the most pure Scuts you can find in Africa, at
least according to a government scientist who took samples of all my hives
(with me next to her) in the Namaqualand district of the Nothern Cape
Provence in South Africa. As far as I know, they're still there at Klein
Pella, just outside of Pofadder. It freezes in the winter there much worse
that where I grew up on the coast of California. The cold is bitter,
there's only 3 inches of rain a year and everything wants to eat them.

We're talking 9 years of experience with scuts, and 8 with those things we
have in Ca., some of which (neglected black Germans) were just as nasty.

Like Barry mine all had mites, and I never did anything about them, and got
great pollenation, and about 120 lbs of honey from the best hives. Even
those two that I had 10 meters from my house (with 6 young children) were
very mild mannered. Usally. Once some local kids threw rocks at them. I was
at lunch, and my milk goat butted down my door. My wife grabbed the kids,
locked them in a room, and I did what I could. The goat was black with
bees, I took several hundred stings, and had to destroy the hives. The goat
died.

Let's keep them out of the U.S.

Best regard to this great list.

Tim, thinking (thanks for the idea of ending a post this way!) It could
always get worse.