# Africanized traits purposely imported into traditional lines ?



## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

DaisyNJ said:


> Reading about Africanized Honey Bees, wondering if any of the beneficial traits are being imported into the traditional lines, purposely. There are many references "hot" bees making tons of honey on various threads here. and I have seen references to NWA (New World African?).


It's fairly widely known that BWeaver has utilized AHB traits in their line. That's one example I can think of.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I think the 'unintentional' release in South America is argued over as well. I think a lot of people think it was very intentional and it's done well for their bee and honey exports.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

ahb are worthless imo.
they are all over our mountains here in my location. 

one thing is they tend to boil over and get stinky fast so your covered in a blanket of nasty girls
I was able to experience this last month out at an acquaintances apiary in Payson.

He said you want to see a ahb hive, have at it. I walked over a 1/4 1/3 mile away and they were everywhere all over me
worthless bees, and mean daughter's of a bit.h. not easy to get clean of them.

that smell, I'l never forget it. I had one bee dive bomb me in the face with my hood on and boom it was like I was
sprayed with stank, then that was it, they were a black humming mob, someone turned on the water, and it didn't stop till the 2 deep hive was empty.

I had 22 stings on my hands, 30 on my legs, and a dozen on my torso, one on the heart, not good.
felt like someone was hitting me with a hammer inside my chest the way my heart would suddenly go thump
I was a little concerned after that. bee stings don't bother me, but that one over the heart wow!
sore for 2 days swelling gone, felt great stronger than before.

honestly
I wish they could find a genetic marker that could bee turned off and have them die out. worthless bees.
BWeaver and anyone who sells hybrids are doing a huge dis service to Beeks everywhere. mo
evil bees worthy of destruction.

you can have them, it's your responsibility if they attack someone, and they die, it's on your head.
there were 5 deaths down in Phoenix, AZ this year in the month of June and July due to those f'rs.

50+yrs of proof they are murderers, I can still see that young school teacher neighbour of mine in her car crying back in the 90's when her car was the first in Phoenix to bee attacked as she pulled into the driveway. nope not nice.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

The honey bees sold under the name Starline at one time had African as part of their heritage, that particular breeding line of the Starline hybrid did not do well. You can read about the USDA having the African bees on the islands offshore of Louisiana. I believe that information is in the Resources Section.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

Africanized bees have a wealth of traits, some of which are useful.

1. They maintain strong brood rearing year round, an advantage in a tropical climate, but distinctly bad where winters are long.

2. They are very aggressive foragers, on this count pure A.M. Mellifera IMO is a better choice for this trait.

3. They cast usurpation swarms several times per year.

4. They are very aggressive toward hive beetles.

5. They are extremely aggressive in hive defense.

6. They will abscond much sooner than other races.

7. Typical of tropical bees, they are small and tend to forage over a smaller area than larger bees with longer wings.



It is not easy to separate out the good traits from the bad, especially aggressive hive defense. IMO, their response to hive beetles needs to be investigated. It is the only trait that I would be interested in, the rest can be found in more intense form in races with fewer flaws.


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## 260alex (Mar 28, 2016)

From Kirk Webster:" The Africanized bees may well turn out to be very valuable to us in the long run—because of their ability to resist varroa mites. "

I don't have nearly as much experience as most folks on here, but, I would dare say, that since most commercial bee operations (selling packages/nuc's) are from Fl, Ga, Tx, Az, and Cali, all areas of ahb, a large volume of bees in the US have ahb traits. Some more so than others. Was it intentional? Maybe. Accidental and unknown, probably.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

I've used Beeweaver queens 2 years now and they are no differant than my other bees so a 
Little African in the bees does just fine they are very mite tolerant but I noticed they do like to swarm. The ones that swarmed were late swarms so they won't last the winter here that will take care of that trait.


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## GBF (Dec 3, 2015)

It is not the same bee AHB and Africanized.. AHB is a bee of future. Agreed with Kirk, if Africanized bees have an ability to resist then it is a perfect source for breeding work.


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