>While as has been said, it's not even conceivable that during the 7 >centuries of Moslem presence there were not bees moving between Iberia >and Africa

Sort of on topic - I've been told that in the Koran it states that every muslim should eat honey.  Can anybody verify this?  I am sure muslims/moslems have been moving bees and keeping them well before Europeans made a real go at it.

When I was in Indonesia collecting bees for my master's it was hard *not* to find a beekeeper.  Often the head of the village was the beekeeper, and I came across one village that had received government funding to become a beekeeping community (wouldn't that be nice?).  Every eaves on every house was laden with hanging beehives, and many relatively modern wooden beehives were found throughout the whole village (maybe 15 houses).  As a westerner I was asked for 'advice' on how to improve their operation.  I noted that they had no bee space, so I passed that along.  Their combs were often fused with propolis.  The only place I visited that had no real beekeeping knowledge was the island of Flores - I was in a predominantly Christian area.

Anyways, I still like to reminisce about that trip.

Martin Damus