# Japanese Honey Bees



## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

okay lots of questions you pose...... Base thought, is why would you want to mess with japenese bees when the standard bees are so availible? even mason bees can be bought commercial without all the hassels if Japenese bees.....

You are way to far north to worry about Africinazed bees....


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## LBEE (Jun 4, 2008)

Hi Neighbor!

The problem, as I understand it, is that the Japanese Honeybee and all forms of Apis Cerana, of which it is a part, are not presently in the United States, and therefore I believe it would be illegal to bring any in. (Invasive Species.) Apis Cerana, of which the Japanese Honeybee is a subspecies was the source of the Varroa Mite and can coexist with the mite. 

As far as the African honeybee, I do not believe that one could obtain a cross or hybrid. The cross between the African bee and what ever was in Brazil originally was between two subspecies of Apis Mellifera. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee

With regards to how far north the "African Bee" will travel, people do not know. Here is one opinion:

http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/B1290.htm#Range

I hope that this helps.

Larry


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## Sarra (Jun 15, 2009)

gmcharlie said:


> okay lots of questions you pose...... Base thought, is why would you want to mess with japenese bees when the standard bees are so availible? even mason bees can be bought commercial without all the hassels if Japenese bees.....
> 
> You are way to far north to worry about Africinazed bees....


I should have mentioned, I'm most likely going to be setting up my greenhouse in another part of the country. 

If Japanese bees are not legal in the states, then nevermind that, no wonder I couldn't find any information at all about them. 

I think Mason bees would probably be the ideal then, since I don't want to deal too much with maintaining a huge hive of European/Western bees.



LBEE said:


> Hi Neighbor!


Howdy! I noticed you were in CP before my account was validated.  Was going to make a point of saying hi. 

And wow, they're actually pretty close. 300-400 miles... But they have desert and other things to overcome before they reach here... And by then, I'll be on the East Coast, or maybe in another country. We'll see.

Also of note on the topic of Japanese Honey Bees and invasive species, a friend of mine in SC emailed me pics many years ago of some Japanese Giant Hornets he found on his property, dead. Was crazy. They aren't the European Hornet, or any other huge hornet/wasp, which is a little disturbing. Maybe some day in the future, the Japanese Species of Honey Bee will be more prolific in the US?


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

.

Take a look at this news video:

*Don't mess with Japanese honeybees*

.


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## david lloyd (Oct 1, 2010)

I have worked with Apis cerana in East Timor. It has problems with varroa but manages this by swarming at the drop of a hat. They also use a smaller hive space so tend to outcompete native bees. They also can bee aggressive. So my advice is, if you could get them, don't.


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

LBEE-
Your link was only partly successful for me. Is this where you wanted to go?
http://www.caes.uga.edu/Publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_id=6912&pg=np&ct=african bee&kt=&kid=&pid=
Bill


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