Tom Elliot wrote: >I have asked the question on this list that you ask. Is there any >breeding work being done on AHB to select for a less aggressive >nature. >A lot of work has been done on section of the European Honeybee, why >not >the Africanized? There are strains of AHB that do not show the >extreme >defensiveness which creates the fear. Let's have some work done to >provide AHB that can be handled with the ease of the Europeans and >can compete with the Africanized drones for mating. >I agree with your feeling that this could work. I have yet to see >anyone but myself post anything on this topic on BEE-L until you did. >I am glad to hear from you. Hi Tom and All I like this quote and think that appliied to life it can only make things better. >"Test everything. Hold on to the good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21) On the topic of gentler A.m.scut's (the AHB) there have been some breeders here in southern africa that have had reasonable succes with this. The Zimbabwean government had as it's chief extension apiculturist a man by the name of Mike Schmalke(Sp??) (am trying to get hold of him as have heard he has just got e-mail). He has for many years bred bees using various techniques from AI to cleariiing feral populations for many kilometers around his breeding zones. My girlfriend has seen him open and move frames around in one of his favourite african bee hives without even using smoke. My only concern with this is that there is the danger that if one does breed the african bee in north america people may import new stock from africa, and given the encroachment of the Cape bee (see Andy's newsflash from the previous post - I think when last I read a figure that this has resulted in over 250 000 beehives having to be gassed) that cape bee genes would be introduced into the population - with drastic consequences for the bee industry. There is also a person working at the Rand Afrikaans University using Artificial insemination to breed AHB resistant to the Cape Bee. I gather he is trying to elevate the level of certain pheremones produced by the bees, so as to make them more resistant to the cape bees who have workers who exude more queen pheremones than other bees. One then has to wonder whether once these bees are released if they will not then have workers who smell like queens (just like the cape bees), or if with the elevated queen pheremones in workers whether they will develop ovaries as easily (I have had a hive where I accidentally killed the queen that had laying workers in full force two days later). Then will these super bees spread through the remaining AHB just like the cape bees have, reducing the biodiversity when the wild hives take on one of these bees as a queen and she only lays drone eggs? Just a few thoughts. Keep well Garth (With any movement of a species there is always a wildcard or two released)--- Garth Cambray Kamdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Apis melifera capensis Grahamstown 800mm annual precipitation 6139 Eastern Cape South Africa Phone 27-0461-311663 3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology Rhodes University In general, generalisations are bad. Interests: Flii's and Bees. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post in no way reflect those of Rhodes University.