AHB first arrived in the US not too many miles south of where I was living at the time. We have AHB in South Texas, but most feral hives are non-aggressive. I was wondering why Arizona has such high percentage of AHBs, compared to us. This statement may explain that:
Donna said southern U.S. states – except Arizona - have strict policies on catching and keeping AHB. For this reason the population of aggressive bees in the state continues to increase, she explained.
I don't know what the AHB protocol in Texas is, anymore. We used to not be allowed to transport bees across the county line. Now, you have to be registered to pick up a swarm and transport across the county line, but it is allowed, and registration is nothing more than an attestation that you are abiding by the state regs for bee hives.
Today, we no longer have to report the presence of AHB swarms to the State.