quotes:
We all concur then!!! The Purvis Bros say "ferals may be surviving due to
‘natural resistance’" ... So the ferals are surviving due to 'natural
resistance' an NOT due to the 'saviors of scientific breeding'!

commentary:

Not to put too fine a point on it, but in one breath you quote "ferals MAY
be surviving", and then translate it to "ARE surviving". You use terms like
"somewhat genetically different", feral, remote, isolated, etc. without
anyone EVER agreeing on what is meant by these terms.

Look: a swarm occurring in the wild HAD to come from somewhere. Another
colony! Where is that colony? Presumably within a mile, so you could have
this chain of colonies leading back to the original apiary where the bees
came from. No real isolation at all.

I have discussed "feral colonies" in the NE woods with a certain Dr. --- and
he reminds us that the survival of these swarms MAY be due to the presence
of non-virulent mites. Mites can adapt, too. Better for them not to kill the
host.


I. G.

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