The Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is a regular honey bee and
pollinator and South Africans do use modern bee equipment with moving frames,
etc. I lived in the Cape for a few years and assisted someone with their hives
a few times. I'm only becoming a beekeeper next week so I can't really compare
them to Italians or Carnolians yet. I did get the impression from my friend
that they are more aggressive than your typical US bee. South African
beekeepers highly prize the Apis mellifera scutellata as a high honey producer
and are concerned about the inroads the Cape bee has made into traditional
scutellata areas. Quite an irony that they wish to preserve and maintain the
bee the US wants to keep out. Apparently there has been an increase in
migratory beekeepers in the last decade which may be the cause of the problem.

>becomes a fully functioning Cape bee colony? Does that mean they won't
>produce surplus honey for market? Or does it mean that they are inefficient
>pollinators?

______________________________________________________
Lance Gillette
Bibliographic Access Management
Elmer E. Rasmuson Library
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Tel. (907) 474-7206
Email: [log in to unmask]
Fax. (907) 474-5068