Controlling AHB

[Jerrymac]

In the 1970s there was another meathod of identification of AHB invented.
Given AHBs' wings beat faster than EHBs' special michrophones have been developed that can determine this defference in pitch.

This again is because of AHB being smaller, as in small cell bees. If we are going small cell, or natural comb building, then the EHB is going to be the same as AHB in the beat of the wings.

[thegolfpsycho]

If I remember right, there was a wing inspection test, I can't remember the name of it.  You were looking for a certain vein in the wing that indicated hydridization.  I imagine the test was found faulty and abandoned.

I think I read in another forum, the small cell or feral bees that M. Bush keeps display something along the same line, which would also tend to negate the test.

[Michael Bush]

>If I remember right, there was a wing inspection test, I can't remember the name of it.

FABIS?

> You were looking for a certain vein in the wing that indicated hydridization.

I haven't heard of that one.  FABIS is just measuring sizes and proportions which I think will be the same for any small cell bee including AHB and EHB.

> I imagine the test was found faulty and abandoned.

I wish.

>I think I read in another forum, the small cell or feral bees that M. Bush keeps display something along the same line, which would also tend to negate the test.

I'm not sure what "something along the same line" is.  But everything HARD evidence I've found of what is used to ID AHB would mislable EHB on small cell becuase they are all related to size.

I keep hearing rumors of a DNA test but have yet to see any actual study that refers to it.  Just the news media seem to talk about it.

[thegolfpsycho]

Well... guess I got the Fabis test and the bee biometrics page on beesource mixed up, or combined in some strange way.  Since the atrial fibrulation and diabeties combined to fry part of the grey matter, the memory isn't so good.  Lusby's mention the extra vein in the wing, and I thought that in a small cell discussion I read that some of Bush's bees had the same thing.  Thanks for sorting it out.

[TAH]

>

Maybe this would explain some of that:

http://www.beesource.com/pov/ahb/viciousbee.htm

Note how many of these viscous Africanized bees were shipped by the USDA all over the US from 1942 to 1970.

If the AHB don't survive in the north how were they raising them at the Arlington Wisconsin research farm? They also seem to have lost quite a few swarms. Since they were breeding these bees about 20 miles from me do you think some of the descendants are still around or would they have all died out long ago?

[LEAD PIPE]

I just watched a show on AHB the other day. They had a hive of them and were doing tests. When they opened this hive bees came pouring out. One of the guys had a 3"X3" piece of leather hanging off him and it had 60 stingers in it after only a few minutes. As they walked away the bees stayed right with them.
Something else that was interesting was when they took African alarm pheromones and put it in front of an EHB hive, it really set them off. The hive got real aggressive real quick. There were some stories about people getting stung to death to hype it up but I thought it was interesting.

[Kirk-o]

I agree with micheal bus I had bees in 1970 I bought 100 hives for 10.00 each from a guy in Gunnison Utah they had been in his mothers back yard for 20 years the nails were sticking out from the supers.Well any way I moved them to northern Utah by a bunch of cherry orchards the owners called and said the bees were chaseing the ducks the chickens and the pickers come move them.I would were big mac overhauls yeah thats right overhauls some of the bees were so mean it felt like they were stapling my overhauls to my back I re hived them into standard hives and they settled down but this was way before africans mites all that stuff they were mean one bump they came a running .I just handled some more mean bees by following Micheal bush instructions divide and conquer
kirk0