Chris Slade <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
>Tom Seeley, not me.  It seems that given plenty of available nest  sites
>scattered over a wide area bees will tend to separate their colonies by  
about
>half a mile. However, without that 'given' they would have no choice but  
to use
>whatever is available even though it might not be their first  preference.


I would like to see the evidence that leads one to assume bees “tend to 
separate their colonies by about half a mile”.  I would think that this is 
within the chance of random for feral colonies to appear to be spread out 
by that distance. 

There are many references that dispute this assumption, such as this 
account from an article appearing in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, Saturday, 
October 09, 1909 Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“In removing the timber from three
acres of land the owner found nine 
trees with bees and honey. Of these
nine trees the largest amount of honey 
stored was about ten pounds, and on
two of the trees the bees were storing
honey by building it fast to small twigs
outside the hollow in a tree!”

Best Wishes,
Joe

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