>Does anyone have any information about Cordovan bees? Joe, A Cordovan bee is a bee with a gene mutation named "Cordovan" (cd). This is a recessive gene that won't let the express any black body color including the legs and antenna. Since it is recessive the bee has to receive two copies of the cd gene one from the queen bee (its mother), and one from the drone bee (its father). The color of a bee that is homozygous for the cd gene (having two copies of the gene) is a light reddish color in Italians (pretty) and a deep dark purple in carniolans (very pretty). The cd gene has been used by many queen breeders as a marker, including the Starlines, so it can be found in many different stocks. Koehnens have a lot of the cd gene mixed into their Italian bees and I have carniolans with the cd genes. You should try some cd bees the nice to look at, and make a great conversation piece with other beekeepers. Garrett