I just called the Apiary Inspection Service office here at Texas A&M and asked
a few questions about Africanized bees, the Weaver's, etc. and was informed
that they have a "European Certification Program" here where they take samples
of bees and send them to the lab to determine their genetics and certify them
as European (assuming that they ARE European) and that allows beekeepers to
move their hives out of quarantined (AHB) counties into non-quarantined areas,
or to sell them certifying that they are European.  This program, I was told,
has been in place for the past 6 years, and the Weavers have participated in
it since the program started.  I do not know exactly what the lab tests are or
what they are looking for when they measure "Africanness" but I assume there is
some standard measure of some genetic material above some threshold value that
determines whether they are African or European.  The inspector I spoke with
also told me that if keeping bees in our area he recommended requeening any
swarm so that all hives would have known genetics.  So as to be explicit just
in case someone might misunderstand what I wrote above, the Apiary Inspection
Service has the certification program for Texas beekeepers, and the Weavers
participate in the program.

Layne Westover