--- Keith Benson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> And yet you have, on several occasions, quoted a
> study that suggests
> that they are different and that there is very
> little genetic mixing, No?
>

Yes!
You can present facts and studies on this list, but
it's all dependent on how others interpret them or
ignore them altogether.  Wild bees are different, but
to what degree they are different, I felt not worth an
argument over.  Also, what dictates a difference is
different with different people. ;>)

Many seem to call 'any swarm' that escapes from a
beekeeper a feral.  With this in mind, when I said
that: "I agree that there is no real difference
between most wild bees and domestic bees."   I believe
that most feral bees (as ferals are defined on this
list) are in fact not ferals, and therefore not
different, as this list would define them.  ;>)

Wild bees in isolated locations seem to maintain some
separation, but not total separation.  From my
experience in collecting and trapping and assessing
ferals along side domestics,  there is a big
difference in the isolated wild bees.

Isolation, does not necessarily mean 'on an island' or
isolated from 'genetic influence'.  I believe
isolation serves as a 'genetic filter'.  Filtering out
many of the poor genetics by distance and ecological
factors so that a more natural balance of mating
competition can take place between that of 'fit
genetics'.


Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA
Small Cell Beekeeping
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
http://www.biologicalbeekeeping.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/



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