In a message dated 01/08/2008 10:59:12 GMT Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<Working towards A.m.m.  Not easy in this part of the world  as we have had 
so 
many different races brought into the area over the  years - but we are 
winning!  The A.m.m./Italian hybrid seems to give  the worst temper.  Some 
our best colonies are the purer A.m.m. -  hardy, thrifty (very little winter 
feed needed), docile (some can be  handled without smoke), happy with single 
brood box, good crops, low  swarming, supersede (queens can live 3-4  
years)...>>
    Have you done any morphometrics on your bees? A  quick and dirty check on 
the discoidal shift is enough to get a general idea, so  I'm guessing you 
probably have. Are they local? I've managed to maintain a  near-AMM strain for 
several generations in central Birmingham, without any  problems, and in the 
last couple of weeks I've added two swarms which are a bit  too stripy for my 
liking, but superficially look close enough to AMM. Both were  headed by virgins, 
so morphometrics will be pretty meaningless for the next six  seeks or so. I 
may or may not requeen them next year, depending how they check  out. 
 
There's a large-scale (for Britain) beekeeper the other side of the city  who 
keeps some fairly nasty hybrids, and local people have told me before now  
that it's 'impossible' to keep AMM locally as a result. If the two of us can  
both do it in the West Mids, then it can't be that hard!




Regards,

Robert Brenchley

Birmingham  UK



   

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