I wish that this had not "gotten out", but since it has, I can confirm
that Derbeemeister is correct.
Housel's bees, progeny of apparently the same (perhaps marked) queens
he got from a certain "small cell" operation in AZ, were found to be very
"hot", which prompted him to call the State Apiarist, which led to a positive
DNA match with AHB DNA.
It could be that the hives at issue were usurped, or it
could be that they simply superceded, and we should
wait for some sort of official account before making any snap
judgements, but I'm guessing that all other possibilities have
been eliminated, and the queens were marked. Anything less would
prompt everyone to shrug, and charge it off to yet another case
of simple usurpation of an EHB hive by AHB.
> I'm still trying to understand what you are saying here. What are "those
> bees"? Where did "those bees" come from that were IDed as African
> and what method of identification was used to ID them as African?
It was DNA tests done by the Florida State Apiarist's office, and
I would rather not name any names, but it is a name that is
very familiar to you, Mike.
Note that I have no firm confirmation that the queens heading up each
hive were verified as being marked, but as usurpation would have been
the first guess when an existing apiary becomes hot, simple logic dictates
that the conclusion that the queens producing bees with significant AHB
DNA came in queen cages, rather than took over the hives via usurpation.
> Read it again. arizona. small cell bees from arizona were shipped to
> florida and california. they test positive for african, according to florida
> authorities. they are killing them
While I have nothing but hearsay about the California case, this is
what I have also heard from other sources.
> I also don’t understand what African bees have to do with natural cell
> size. Perhaps you can enlighten me. I see no connection.
There isn't any inherent connection, as you well know Mike, so you
can stop your blustering. :) The connection is that bees represented
as "small cell bees" and sold in interstate commerce in this one case
turned out to be AHB, rather than regressed EHB.