>I think it is important to keep in mind that the same hive of bees
>could be moved anywhere in the western hemisphere from Northern Alberta
>to Tierra del Fuego, and be expected to both overwinter and make a
>harvestable crop of honey.  Yes, it would need to be wrapped to
>overwinter in Allen's backyard, and it would need ventilation to
>overwinter well in mine, but these same concerns would apply to
>humans trying to endure the winter weather unique to each location.

I had thought that, too, but discovered it is not entirely true.

A case in point is 100 packages I purchased from New Zealand many years 
ago and installed in three different yards.  They were the prettiest bees 
I ever had, and they were literally golden in colour.  They produced 
honey, but were noticeably vicious.

I wrapped them for winter, the same as all my yards, but by spring almost 
none in those three yards were alive, whereas the other yards had normal 
losses.

Of course, this does not prove the point conclusively, but other 
experience over the years, plus comments by my friends who run thousands 
of hives and thus have reasonable sample sizes when comparing stocks, 
indicate there are large differences in winter hardiness between bees from 
different sources.  One example I recall was mention that Kona Italians 
did not winter nearly as well as the Carniolans one particular year.  
(That is particularly interesting since I understand they are open 
mated).  

Additionally, Africanized strains are reputed to not winter well in cold 
climates, although Dewey Caron noted an apparent exception in Bolivia 
(from a personal conversation).  Strains recently mentioned here recently, 
incorporating genes sent north by Kerr and distributed by USDA also had 
wintering difficulties reportedly.

As for honey production, we bought stock for several years from a breeder 
in the mountains of BC.  His claim was that the stock was winter hardy, 
and it was survival was fantastic, but the hives barely made a crop.  They 
managed to get built up and heavy for winter just in time, though. We 
figured it out pretty quickly and replaced them with more productive bees 
that wintered acceptably, but maybe not quite as well.

So, although I would say that, in general, there is some truth to the 
statement, in particular cases there may be huge differences, and they are 
well known in commercial circles.  

Right Bob?

allen
---
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. 
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)  
 

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