Peter L. Borst wrote:

>Just published, the authors looked into the genetic composition of the
>bees in the 3 northwestern states of Mexico: Sonora, Baja California
>North and Baja California South (BCS). African bees were first
>discovered in Sonora (which borders Arizona) in 1993.
>
We (USDA-Tucson Bee Lab) had a tough time getting ANY info out of the 
Mexican gov't during the AHB march north through Sonora in the early 
1990s. Some said it was because of the druglords controlling access to a 
wide swath of the border area. According to the little data we received 
from people who were supposed to be sampling in Mexico, the stream of 
"pioneer colonies" coming up the west coast of Mexico stopped at about 
Hermosillo (until they popped up south of Tucson and in my traps on the 
Pima Reservation east of Ajo, AZ prob a year later). Also, the one 
Mexican gov't trap I got a chance to examine, hanging on the border 
fence just east of Lukeville,AZ/Sonoita,Son.,Mex. had a very poor 
pheromone lure. In addition, beekeepers in Mexico were reported to 
consider "hot" queens very desirable, even back into the 1970s (see 
Roger Morse's published comments after the bee meeting in Acapulco in 
1976, probably in Apidologie or Bee World or maybe in ABJ or Gleanings - 
I forget where, but definitely in print). Anyway, just as among the 
Florida beekeepers (sorry, boys), there was some "unauthorized traffic" 
in breeder queens to enhance the local stocks.

As far as their comments about

> Baja California
>  
>
>, which is a vast and inhospitable desert. How the African bees got
>to the region is a question:
>  
>
I suggest that most deserts can support the AHB; I still believe I found 
a thin web of colonies surviving in SW Arizona with no free water, just 
barely hanging on in rocky areas until the rains came and they could 
jump across to more verdant pastures. These bees are real survivors.
    - Been There,
        - John Edwards

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