Yes, AHBs have been found in the county just north of me. It was great because I was doing the PR rounds with my neighbors discussing my new bees and the newspaper headlines that morning were all about the AHBs found in the next county.
The biggest problem on the SHBs for me was that because I let the hive get weak, the SHBs were able to get real strong. Also trying to find a replacement queen in Janurary isn't easy.
I have two hives now, picked up the second one yesterday. Cost me $200 but it came with 30,000 bees and one deep, and one medium. It also had a plastic queen excluder. It has a mesh bottom also. Mine all have board bottoms.
Now we are having the coldest weather of the year, 36 F / 2.2C for the next two days. My bees won't even come out. I don't blame them I want to stay in bed also.
Sincerely,
Brendhan