At 04:01 29/12/96 -0400, Stan wrote:
 
>...I also am curious as to what the situation is with bees in other locations
>where there may not be a winter.  If there is a dry and wet season do the
>bees start to raise a lot of brood in the period of nectar shortage at the
>end of the dry season so that they will be strong when the flowers pop after
>the wet season starts?  Someone in the southern US once posted that their
>main flow was in the fall with not too much before that.  I wonder if their
>bees still built up like mad in the spring the way ours do here, or whether
>it was delayed.
 
Even in tropical/sub-tropical location such as Australia and Mexico, there
is a variation in temperature throughout the year (SEASONS) and the amount
of day-light the plants and the bees get. The combination of all these
environmental factors make the 
brood built up... But probably the most important in tropical/subtropical
places (own experience) is the rain and humidity in the environment. No
mater how long or warm your day is, most nectar producer plants will not
grow or bloom without moisture. As soon as the first rain comes, the bees
start to develop the brood nest. The bees have evolved through centuries to
chatch up rigth on time for the nectar flow.
As a result of time and environment presure (to avoid the words "natural
selection" and "evolution" <grin>), they carry genes well adapted to their
particular environment.
 
What happens when you move bees from a particular place to another with
diferent environmental conditions?
 
After only 5 generations, (Nick's story of French bees) and if open mating
assumed, the imported bees only keep 1/32 of the original genes of the
imported population. May be well adapted after that. Most "bad" genes are
gone, but still some remain in "in case of emergency".
Diverse patrilines (several fathers/drones) in the population play an
important role. The more diverse the colony is, the better their chances of
surviving. Bees are multitask as individuals and as a colony. They are to
perform in diverse environmental conditions even in one location. That is
why poor mated queens (not enough patrilines) head weak colonies.
 
 
Feliz Año Nuevo 1997!!!!
 
 
Mauricio :)