Bee-Listers,
 
Last fall I set a few partialy, filled supers out for my bees to
clean-up and noticed several nearly, black honey bees enjoying the
harvest too. During the twenty-three years I've had this hobby, I've
mail ordered and kept Carniolans, Caucasians, Midnites and Italians, but
I've never saw bees this dark. I'm wondering if it may be the Black bee
my father's generation speak of as having in their younger years.
    Our local bee inspector (seventy years young himself) took a colony
of Black bees from the wall of a building which is located within two
miles from here.  But within a year this swarm had breed out to the
Italians he keeps.
    I don't believe the Black visitors of last fall are "kept"
bees. I live in a sparsly populated area and, that I know of, only one
other beekeeper is nearby.
    It's a long shot but is it possible the Black bee or maybe just this
colony of Black bees is varroa resistant?  When the varroa mite came in
a few years ago, it literally wiped out the bees my father, brother,
neighbors and I kept for decades.
   My reason for posting this and question is: Does anyone know of a
realible method of tracking bees back to their tree?  If I can find it,
the last thing in the world I want to do is cut it down. But possibly
I'll be able to catch a swarm with a bait hive placed nearby.
 
Thanks,