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thisbud4u

test for AHB?

thisbud4u
17 years ago

Does anyone know a genetic testing service that will test for Africanized Honey Bees? We have some hives that are getting more aggressive than usual and would like to have them tested.

Comments (5)

  • longhunter1769
    17 years ago

    none that i know of.What breed do you have.

  • thisbud4u
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Well, that's the question of course, longhunter. I'm fondly hoping I have EHB (European Honey Bee, Apis mellifera), but I'd like to test my bees--sometimes they act more aggressively than EHB usually do. There are various tests, including a new one using MABs (monoclonal antibodies), and there are lots of genetic testing services all over the country and the world, but I don't know if any of them offer testing for AHB yet. That's the question. If anybody knows, please post. Thanks.

  • longhunter1769
    17 years ago

    sounds like you have the old german dark bees that i remeber from my youth.If they are you have a rare gem ive been looking for some all over the country since i got back into keeping bees.I remeber my youth my dad had 12 hives of them.They were more aggressive then the italians we had.

  • matiwatu
    17 years ago

    Test or no test.....Aggressive bees are bad for bees and beekeeping.....

    If there is nothing bothering the hives, like skunks.
    Requeen the hives with a stock known for gentleness.
    Do not wait until a mass stinging occurs.

  • thisbud4u
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    matiwatu,
    Believe me, we won't wait that long. I've left them alone during our cold/wet weather, but now that the weather's improved, I'm going to inspect them. The thing that confuses me is that, whenever we've used smoke and BeeQuick (I use both at the same time, in small doses) the bees have been as gentle as lambs. It's only when we fiddle with the hive without any treatment that they get upset. A few weeks ago, I put a tarpaulin over one of the hives because it was about to rain and I'd seen water seeping through the cracks of the hive the last time I opened it up. Well, when I went to put the tarp over the hive, I didn't think I needed any smoke or BeeQuick because I wasn't opening the hive at all. Apparently they didn't agree and the scouts started bothering people as much as 50 feet away. I even got stung by one of them almost a half hour after I had completed my work. So, it's not that they're naturally aggressive. You can stand 10 feet from the hive and they ignore you totally. It's only when we touch the hive without calming them down first. So, I'm not sure that really qualifies as being aggressive in the usual sense. Mostly, I wanted to test them for AHB because of my background in genetics, and I think it would be cool to be able to do the test if necessary.

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