> AHB has only been responsible for about >twelve human > deaths, mostly in Texas and Arizona. > > These deaths are from multiple stings . In one case over a thousand stings. > >> The average number of deaths per year caused by the common >European Honey > bee in the US is around 40." > > These are from anaphylaxis in almost (if not all) cases. Hello all - Does it really matter how these people died? Any death from bees is a terrible thing. I think the point is, 4 times as many died from EHB than from AHB. Now we would need to figure out what percent of the total bee population is AHB to get a better perspective on these figures. > However the aggressive AHb can > send even the trained professional running for cover. Then it is these bees that need to be eliminated due to their aggression, not all AHB, again, what ever that is. I like Robt Mann's approach to the matter, which deals with a bees behavior, not their DNA. This would then include both EHB and AHB. > if the AHB produced a greater production per hive in some cases the total > average for the yard would still be below EHB unless a way was found to > breed out the constant swarming and absconding of AHB. Unfortunately, comments like this mean little unless there is a clear understanding by all as to what constitutes an AHB. Perhaps a bee that has very high AHB markers (for lack of a better word) would be prone to swarming or absconding, but that leaves a whole lot of other bees that might be labeled AHB but have just a fraction of these markers, or percent of genes, still being part of this "group." Regards, Barry