Ms Member, there is a female in Arizona, let?s call her D, that has honeybees that test 83% africian honey bees. She sales bees to anybody with cash. My fear is she ships queens, like to New York. D bees are dangerous to the public. I have seen video of D bees are they are insane mean: like hundreds of stingers in the cameraman gloves. D is somewhat famous, Varroa resistant stock, she claims drones are kicked out of hives in the Fall because they are diseased or sick. A real wacko with very mean bees. D bees are Varroa resistant but that is because they are africian genetics.
Interesting information, Van. I agree that it's certainly possible that Africanized bees could take hold through shipping bees like this, but I don't believe Dr. Seeley attributed the varroa resistance of the wild colonies in NY to Africanized genes, although he did say they played a role in helping the colonies in Arizona survive. In chapter 2 of his book, "The Lives of Bees" he describes how he learned that the bees were developing resistance through the African genes in Arizona, which made him concerned that the wild bees in his area had all perished, because they didn't have any African genes.
Are there many native bees there that produce honey?
Hi Skeggley, that is a good question. I am thinking the Bumble Bee 🐝 does produce a honey. Thought bitter I have been told. I do know know if this is true. What about your native bee, same question?
Phillip is correct, bumble bees do produce some honey, although the quantity is nothing compared to what honey bees produce, since bumble bee colonies do not need to survive the winter intact. I think that the only North American bees that make honey are honey bees and bumble bees. There are some stingless bees in Central America that make honey, but I don't think their range extends into the US.
How about SHB with native bees?
There is concern about SHB with bumble bees, since their nests provide everything that a honey bee nest does for the beetles. As with many things about native bees, more research is needed to determine the extent of the problem, but there is no known reason why the beetles wouldn't cause just as much of a problem for bumbles. I doubt there is any concern for the solitary bees though, since they don't provision large nests with stores and brood.