News from my town!

[johnnybigfish]

This came out in the paper today....The guy who was interviewed is the president of my bee club...he's pretty smart...But, I dont know if I can agree with him on this story...Like Swarms chasing people..i thought they were the same as regular honeybees until they set up housekeeping...And, as Ive mentioned here in the past, some beeks here kill all the swarms they catch becuase they say they are all Africanized.....Why havent i caught any killer bees....am i just lucky so far? or is my turn coming this season?
http://timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/apr/21/beekeepers-warn-of-summer-threat/

your friend,
john

[doak]

For your location, It is hard to believe (all) swarms are AHB.
Are all the beekeepers there  so good they prevent swarming?
Then they must all be AHB's.
I have never heard of a swarm chasing anyone.
Maybe they started running the way the bees was going to go to begin with. :)doak

[JP]

This post reminded me I have to contact Iddee so I can send the sample of bees that attacked me from a swarm that was sprayed with a fire extinguisher about 6 weeks ago to get tested.

I have always heard that even Africanized swarms are docile for the most part as is a European swarm.

Dry swarms are the ones you have to watch out for. These have been clustered way past the normal 2 days or so, more like 5 days or more. Their resources have been depleted and they are very grumpy and hungry, just like we get.

Another thing, I read all the time, how someone hived a swarm with no aggression, to find out AFTER they have been established, they begin to become unruly, and sometimes nearly unworkable, and wind up testing positive for AHB traits.


...JP

[buzzbee]

Are there any data to support two or three people killed each year by Africanized bees? Or is this lumped in with people that suffered allergic reactions?
  Are any of the two or three in the US?   I wonder,not sure where to get those statistics.

[Bee-Bop]

I'm sure all of us Know being beekeepers;
But in case you need a update, here's the March 2008, State/County African bee
map put out by the USDA.

These counties are were Africans have been found & tested.

Now don't forget to add this past years expansion !

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=11059&page=6

Perhaps we all need to hit the books.

My question is, how come Brazil & Mexico are supposed to be covered with African bees, and they are among the largest exporters of Honey !

They doing something we don't know ?

Bee-Bop

[johnnybigfish]

Yep! I was wondering about the fatality statistics too...Last I heaRd THEre WERE NO DEATHS TO HUIMANS BY ahb....I can only remember pets being killled.Also. on the bee map. my county is still in the white zone as of Mar. 2008. I'm gonna keep the map on hand tho...Its very interesting to look at....according to the map, Theres no AHB rocognized all alond the south side of the Red River on the Tx Ok. border...Thats unusual!
your friend,
john