AHB in Georgia

[Broke-T]

It was reported yesterday that AHB were found in Georgia. What will that mean to the Queen and Package industry in Georgia?

Johnny

[Buffalolick]

Where is that being reported? There was an unfortunate incident where an old man died but he was only stung about 100 times. Ahb attacks have 1000s of stings. My Italian mutts have stung me more than 100 times in one day when being moved. They are not ahb just a little grumpy. Lol Haven't heard of ahb here. Will be sad if its true.

[Amber]

Frmo WSBTV website.


Officials: Killer Bees Responsible For Georgia Man's Death
Posted: 9:23 am EDT October 21, 2010

ATLANTA -- Officials with the Georgia Department of Agriculture confirmed that Africanized honeybees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County last week.

“This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.

Africanized honeybees are a hybrid of African and European honeybees. Because of their extremely defensive nature regarding their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive), they are sometimes called “killer bees.” Large numbers of them sometimes sting people or livestock with little provocation.

“Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity,” said Irvin.

“The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honeybees are,” said Irvin.

Authorities say 73-year-old Curtis Davis died Oct. 11 in Dougherty County. Authorities say he was cleaning up burning brush with a tractor when he hit a beehive. He was stung over 100 times.

[willrich68]

I hope this is just a fluke. I live in north central Alabama and figure that if they are in Georgia then they must be in Mississippi, Alabama and potentially Tennessee. This will make for big changes in the way we all do business and where we keep are colonies and I imagine who will allow us to keep colonies on their property.

[Buffalolick]

Id like to know if this has been confirmed by genetic testing or if this is just some yahoo at the department of AG angling for some grant $ not ready to accept the news.

[mhc]

Quote from Kim Flottum's CATCH THE BUZZ newsletter:
"Because Africanized honeybees look almost identical to European honeybees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees’ identity."

They were confirmed as AHB.

[beemandan]

I guess we can join the club now.
Recently there was a man killed by honey bees in southwest GA. It turns out that those bees were tested and are Africanized.
http://www.wctv.tv/APNews/headlines/...ction=comments

[Buffalolick]

I guess we'll be praying for a cold winter then.

[Buffalolick]

Maybe the fall line will protect us Dan!

[beemandan]

I hope so Buffalo....

[Barry]

Id like to know if this has been confirmed by genetic testing or if this is just some yahoo at the department

Yeah, it's a USDA yahoo.
I don't know what the big surprise is. You're down there in the southern states so surely you didn't think you'd escape it. Smell the coffee!

[Buffalolick]

Well I did expect we'd escape it since we have several days each winter with lows in the teens. For what it's worth I'm still suspicious of the diagnosis. Why is suggesting a government agency might lie to stoke public fear and generate more funding for themselves worthy of some rolly eyes?

[Barry]

Because there's really nothing to be suspicious about. AHB is old news. The genes have been spreading now for many, many years. Every southern state should expect to already have AHB, even if it isn't "official." If this story came out 8 years ago, we could have some room for doubt, but not now.

I'm sure there are AHB genes in Illinois already. Just diluted more than where you are.

[scdw43]

I feel that as the genetics get watered down and they adapt to the cold, we will not be saying, they have AHB, but we will all be saying, that we all have AFB. It is a sad time as the public will just have more ammo against beekeepers. Look for more regulations about keeping bees in urban areas. With bees being moved all over the country it is up to us to watch our bees very close. If you have a agressive hive or a hive that is prone to swarm more than usual requeen it or get someone to help you requeen it quick. That will be something that we can do to slow down the advance of AHB.

[scdw43]

Sorry about double post.

[bigbearomaha]

if the genetics are getting "watered down" or are adapted more toward european honey bee traits in order to survive in the colder temps, it is only reasonable to think that the behavior of the bees will change as well in accordance with the genetic traits changing.

it may become that having ahb is no different than having ehb in northern states.

Big Bear

[honeybeekeeper]

Is it true that they put the honey bee under i microscope and they go by the detail of the wings and the size of the bee itself when being tested for AHB???

[camero7]

Seems to me that AHB has been found in Maine from the bees in blueberries. So Georgia should be no surprise. My understanding is the further north the easier they are to work and their swarming diminishes [they won't survive if they swarm up here like they do in the tropics.]

[honeybeekeeper]

If thats the case camero7 i wouldnt mind having a few hives cause i heard that they can put out the honey. Very good productive workers!

[wolfpenfarm]

having a few hives cause i heard that they can put out the honey. Very good productive workers!

Actually, i have had them and they build up fast and are poor poor producers. I got tired of them and had to requeen and still lost them that winter due to the lousy production of them.

now they build comb fast.