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Author Topic: Don't know if ya'll have heard . . . Looks like AHB have entered GA for sure. :(  (Read 15257 times)

Offline ziffabeek

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I just read that they confirmed through testing that the bees that stung that man to death in Albany, were indeed africanized.  I know we knew it would happen, but I'm so sad.

love,
ziffa

Sorry, here's the link:  http://www.albanyherald.com/home/headlines/Tests_confirm_Africanized_bees_responsible_for_mans_death.html

Offline beewitch

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Well, that is a total bummer.  I'm going home to watch my girls and hope the frost line in GA keeps them south of me ... 

Offline AllenF

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That sucks.    I wonder what it will do to the package and queen market in south Georgia?   I wonder how they skipped north Florida? 



Offline Mason

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I think it is likely that someone brought the bees up from south Florida by accident. 
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Offline AllenF

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Probably a Gator fan.   :-D

Offline fish_stix

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YEP! You GA guys "Be Afraid!" You have them coming at you from 2 directions, West and South. Start wringing your hands now and worrying; they're gonna kill all of you. Keep your kids and pets inside and make those kids wear veils when they go off to school. Might as well go ahead and kill off your bees right now too; for sure they'll be goners soon. Worry, worry, worry, worry, worry, worry, worry................................................................................................... :roll:

Offline AllenF

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And now we are getting attacked from the north (again)  by invading buffalo.   Look what they are doing to pools in North Georgia.  ]

http://www.youtube.com/user/chrismaker0510#p/a/u/1/jwEajxLSD5w

Offline tecumseh

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I suspect (don't really know for certain) that fish stik and I carry about the same twisted sense of humor?

might I add just a bit to his comments...

1) fear, fear and more fear seems to be the only human behavior trait some folks really understand.  THAT will certainly make the situation better... right?

2) since your own bees are now such a source of worry why not do the right thing and just give them to me for safe keeping.

3) please don't try to come to really understand the problem for certainly that might stand in the way of the one human behavior characteristic that you do seem to understand.
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Offline BjornBee

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Yep....mention of AHBs and before anyone can even make a negative comment, and you have beekeepers being all defensive and such. Figures, from the group of beekeepers who already have them in their area, or will shortly.

Truth is....I don't want them in my operation. If you do, then fine. But don't denigrate me (or others) for not "promoting" or suggesting that we should have no concerns. Except in cases where someone was highly allergic and would of died from any type bee sting, almost all "stinging incidents" over the past 20 years where someone has died, are from AHB areas or from documented AHB bees. Go laugh and tell the family of that dead man that there is no danger and we should all somehow promote AHBs.

Show me a stinging incident where someone died of EHBs. Not a one time allergic reaction. But a stinging incident meaning a massive attack and a hundred of more stings. All of them are AHBs. There is a difference. There is an increased risk.

I find it ironic that the death of a person results in the finding of AHBs for the first time in Georgia, while some claim there is nothing to be concerned about. When was the last person killed by bees in Georgia under circumstances such as this? It's not like this is a daily situation, and by some luck, AHBs were discovered. The announcement of finding AHBs for the first time, from the death of a person by a stinging incident, while others somehow suggesting AHbs are seemingly safe, is irony at it's best.

Are they as bad as the media hype. No. Are there probably benefits of AHB genetics. Yes. Are there negative impacts to feral genetic pools? Yes. Will certain townships and towns see restrictions if AHBs move into an area? Yes. Is the spread of AHBs good for the community? No. Will I educate the public by suggesting there are no concerns? No.

The business will sort out the bee hype on it's own. If the southern beekeepers, who probably is more concerned with protecting their own operations or hobby than anything else, continues to provide safe and workable bees, then the impact will be low. If on the other hand, they supply nasty bees, then the consumer will ultimately decide. In the past few years, I have received probably several dozen calls from beekeepers with extremely nasty bees. And I will not mention the operation in Texas that the bees came from. But I suppose from other posts and comments, it would be known to most. I helped more than several of these beekeepers requeen. And my last suggestion is to perhaps buy from providers in areas where AHBs are not established. And I don't think that is a concept that needs much promotion. Most beekeepers once educated, can make rational decisions of where to by bees based on such matters. And I don't think a bunch of southern beekeepers claiming in a thread about a dead guy, that there are no issues, will change that thought process much.  

Did I ever send off samples of these nasty bees? No. Why be the first to find AHBs in the local area when others will swoop in and use it as an excuse for funding and ultimately have no authority or goal to stop the shipping of bees, yet will try to force me into policies and restrictions on a local level.

If the southern beekeepers make an effort to keep AHBs out of their commercial industry, then they will benefit. If the southern beekeepers take the position that AHBs are no problem and suggest that shipping off these bees are of no concern, I think their business will suffer.

You can bash me all you want. What I say is true, and my opinion. And it is an opinion of most beekeepers I know outside of those already in AHB territory. It's not about fear. It's about not wanting AHB in my operation or in the local area for a host of public and environmental reasons.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2010, 10:09:50 am by BjornBee »
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Offline iddee

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I think there is a difference in promoting, and realizing the inevitable.
The beeks in the south can and will fight the invasion, but will eventually lose. Minimizing the impact by teaching the truth rather than exploding the horror myths will make everyone's life easier.

The AHB are being kept from Chili to the southern US and the beeks in their future territory will do the same. Going to the extreme in either direction is never a good thing.
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Offline FRAMEshift

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I think there is a difference in promoting, and realizing the inevitable.
The beeks in the south can and will fight the invasion, but will eventually lose.
When we're talking about biological systems, things are usually not so black and white.  I realize that some AHB genes will find their way into our bees in North Carolina.  That does not mean it's inevitable that we will all be raising AHB in our backyards.  As the AHB moves north, their survival will depend on acquiring some EHB traits such as clustering and honey storage.  Constant swarming is not a survival trait in a cold climate. 

Many hives have been lost to mites and disease so the competition offered to AHB invasion has been weakened.  But there is still time to educate and encourage the public.  A big increase in the number of EHB hives will offer real competition to the invasion and will dilute out the AHB at some latitude. 

Also, it is possible to establish  "drone islands" where queens will be saturated with EHB drones and AHB genes can be effectively excluded.  Jack Tapp at Busy Bee Apiaries in Chapel Hill is already establishing a large area of drone saturation.  If AHB gets really bad, we will buy all our queens from Jack.
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Offline Mason

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When this hit the news I was bombed with emails from friends that know I am a hobbyist beekeeper.  Some rational inquiries and others completely in a panic.  I of course educated them the best I could about the reality of the situation.  All of the articles claim that local beekeepers are the best defense against AHB.  I'm sure that queen breeders and commercial guys have a larger impact and therefore larger responsibility and liability.  If Georgia gets a bunch of nuisance regulations regarding beekeeping we all lose.  As a hobbyist I figured the best thing I could do was to educate.  If anyone knows of something else I should be doing please educate me.

The man died.  I'm sure his family would see no humor in some of these remarks and will not readily distinguish between AHB and EHB bees for a very long time.  It's pretty darn tragic in many ways and that is the reality.
Former beekeeper until March....maybe next year...RIP

Offline fish_stix

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Bjornbee; I went back and read every post; nobody denigrated anyone else or suggested that there's nothing to be concerned about, although my post came closest. The fact is that there are many beekeepers in the US who live with AHB and don't have a serious problem doing it. Is someone going to tell us that beekeeping is now impossible in TX, AZ, NM, UT, CA, NV, OK, LA and FL? Or that you can't work your bees in those areas. Life goes on. If you get AHB you handle the problem just like you have to handle every other pest and problem with bees. There's nothing on earth that you can do about the spread of AHB except handle your problem if you get AHB. And, of course you don't want them in your hives, neither do I, nor anyone else who has had any experience with them. At the same time, it's not the end of earth as we know it. As I stated on a previous post, I work in shorts and tee shirts, as do many others in AHB areas, and don't plan on buying a beesuit. Our local bee inspector has tons of experience with them as his area is East Central and South FL. Yesterday I watched as he inspected some bees just brought down from MN; first time I've ever seen him wear a veil and I've known him for about 18-20 years.

Offline tecumseh

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what fish stik said...

Mason writes:
The man died.  I'm sure his family would see no humor in some of these remarks and will not readily distinguish between AHB and EHB bees for a very long time.  It's pretty darn tragic in many ways and that is the reality.

tecumseh:
your job at this time is PR in nature and the above sentiment (imho) will go a long way to smooth the problem over.  I hope you did not find anything I said in my prior post as humorous or light hearted?

statement like...
'Show me a stinging incident where someone died of EHBs. Not a one time allergic reaction. But a stinging incident meaning a massive attack and a hundred of more stings.'

tecumseh:
this will not sell so well to the family, friends, neighbors or local community.  I could of course provide the example you ask for, but will not.

you can assume by the above statement that 'the example' is highly personal.


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Offline ziffabeek

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For me, Mason hit the nail the closest.  I have one hive in an in-town neighborhood.  I did not post this (or at least mean to post this) in a state of panic about my bees being AHB or to raise fear among my beekeeping friends here in GA.  I posted this in sorrow and, yes, a little worry, about what the reaction of my non-beekeeping neighbors would be.  If I'm afraid of anything, it's that someone is going to freak out on my hive and I won't be allowed to have it anymore, regardless of its behavior, or that I'll wake up one morning and someone will have damaged the hive out of fear/to send a message.

Mason - you're right, all we can do is try to educate and inform and manage our hives.  I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but some of these in-town NPC members have entirely too much time on their hands.  I'm crossing my fingers that this passes without too much notice on the public's part. 

 


Offline David McLeod

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Mason, mentioned possible increased regs. That would be my only concern regarding this (probably more on a local town by town ordinance level) than anything else. My only other major concern is not actually a regulation concern, though if what I fear happens it could be. That concern is the NWCOs and PCOs (nuisance wildlife / pest control operators) out there that are barely half trained on how to deal with honeybees other than hose them and rip into the wall. Let one of these half assed dudes stumble into the wrong swarm or colony and we have fodder for the news shows (and alot of these guys just love to ham it up in front of a camera). I'm not sure how beeks can prevent that but it is a scenario that scares the bejeesus out of me on many levels both as a beek and a NWCO.
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Offline Mason

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You must be talking about guys like this idiot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsorsEbtD3g#
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Offline hardwood

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Wow, that big ol' "nest" only had 3,000-5,000 bees in it?

What a jerk!

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

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Offline AliciaH

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Yea, but what about that bee suit?  I'm laughing all the way out to my hives!

Offline BjornBee

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Wow, that big ol' "nest" only had 3,000-5,000 bees in it?

What a jerk!

Scott

Why is he a jerk?
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anything