Hello All

Boy oh Boy I am in the big league now!, having a discussion with George Imirie.


George wrote:
>Try this example to test your thinking:  Consider two bees, both exactly 5
>weeks old.  One became 5 weeks old on June 1st, and how much additional life
>can be expected of her compared a bee that became 5 weeks old on December
>1st?

With respect George, the longevity of these two bees cannot be compared,
since one is a 'summer' bee and the other is a 'winter' bee. The longevity
of these two bees is vastly different since most winter bees survive until
the spring to feed the early brood.

>Two bees, both emerging from their cells on June 1st.  However, it rained
>almost every day from June 20th to July 10th and bees could rarely forage.
>In the adjoining county, it was warm and sunny rain-free during the same
>period and bees were very busy foraging.  Can you suggest a death date for
>either?  I can't.

Neither can I, and I doubt if anybody else can, and I fail to see how this
adds to the debate either way.

What I was seeking to develop was that on the one hand it appeared that
longevity was a trait which was highly advantageous to the beekeeper, but
yet there has been no discussion on it (unless as may be likely that I have
missed some discussion).

What Wedmore said was that a bee that lives for 8 weeks as compared to a bee
that lives for 5 weeks will provide an extra 3 weeks foraging without cost
to the hive or the beekeeper. This suggests to me at any rate, that everyone
should be on the quest for the bees with the greatest longevity (all other
things being equal).

I then attempted to extrapolate bee longevity into varroa and here I
definitely became unstuck and thanks to Aaron Morris and Ruary Rudd for
pointing that out. But I will think some more on this once I have got a
better handle on the mathematics of varroa vis a vis that of the bees.

Having said all that, I still feel that it is better to have long lived
bees, especially in the islands in which I live, where the season in short
and uncertain, and when a flow comes along the long lived variety will
statistically appear to have more bees for foraging.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Sincerely

Tom Barrett
49 South Park, Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
Tel + 353 1 289 5269
Fax + 353 1 289 9940