Hello Scot & All,

I wish Allen would have let us know he was going to be in the Midwest as I
would have made arrangements to attend! I ALWAYS post on Bee-l when I am
attending if visiting or a speaker. Shame on you Allen! Allen and I have met
many times before but I always enjoy our discussions! I always learn from
his direct beekeeping experience and willing to share information nature!


>Even the USDA beelabs aren't necessarily full of facts but as full of
opinions as we are here.

A simple answer can usually be found and the answer in most cases follows
the published information on the subject.!

 "Off the record" & "I am  not going to publish what you say" will most
times get the lab persons opinion if you have got a reputation of not
betraying a confidence! I have got such a reputation. If you look back over
the years I have been on BEE-L you will see times when others have pushed
for the source of my bee lab information. I will take the heat and not
betray the confidence.

You are just starting on your beekeeping journey Scot! The above could be a
valuable piece of information. I have watched you grow on the Florida
beekeepers list ( I am a lurker)! Build trust with these people and they
will talk freely!

What they say in public at a meeting can be repeated but you need to make
sure you understood what they were saying and not taken out of context.

>USDA beelab experiments seem to be often not as
large scale as people here would like to think. They consist often as
few as 6-12 hives for an experiment.

A few hives sometimes are all that's needed. The problem today with small
number of hive studies is all the factors  which can effect the outcome and
are hard to control. Those factors are present in large numbers of hives but
easier to see if they effected the results.

The best point about small numbers involved is the whole study can be tossed
if factors such as chalkbrood, disease, queen problems,weather  or other
factors taint your results.

A well run small study will get attention. A shoddy run study will not get
attention with the research community. It is far better to keep results of a
tainted study to yourself rather than try to convince researchers of what
you "think" you have proven! I learned the hard way on this point and have
learned from my mistake!

Agenda's can many times taint a study in beekeeping. One reason why I like
private beekeeping research from ordinary beekeepers.

>Africanized Honey Bees are great bees with one and only one drawback.

This is an attempt in my opinion to level the playing field! Now this
statement really paints the AHB with a simple and broad brush!

Was last seen by me at the ABF convention in Austin , Texas.
An attempt at the "dumbing down" of the U.S. beekeeper.

The above statement is problematic because by the time the average beekeeper
realizes the statement is *crap* his yards are full of nasty bees which are
stinging him and his neighbors. Running on the frames , swarming constantly
etc.

Keeping a close watch on your hives and quickly eliminating hives with AHB
genetics is the answer! What Paul Jackson (Texas state bee inspector) and
the  Texas beekeepers were doing! The AHB are great bees opinion is around
in a small circle.Very small!

The AHB problem is not going to go away but get bigger. Doing nothing is not
the answer! Many undesirable traits come with feral AHb such as running on
the frames, constant swarming and bees with capensis -like traits to name
only a few! Control the queens in your hives and AHb *in your hives* is not
a problem. Completely stopping the feral AHb is not going to happen!

Bob

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