>She found that early spring feeding of pollen or substitute was very
beneficial whereas autumn feeding was less so on the spring buildup of
colonies.

Thanks, Bob.  These results, as Peter mentions, are somewhat at odds with
what we see in California prior to February almond pollination.

Could be the colder winter.  Or I wonder if it is the natural pollen
availability.  Even though Dr Matilla trapped pollen from the foragers, my
question is (she hasn't answered my mail) whether there is a natural late
fall pollen flow in the area.  Even a small amount of natural pollen
availability would be a very different situation than many California
locations.

Trevor, I'm also wondering about what differentiates a winter bee.  My
feeling from recent research is that it may be little more than simply not
foraging.  The change to foraging behavior also changes the ratio of VG to
JH, the atrophy of the HP glands and the fat bodies.

I was actually thinking of an interesting experiment yesterday.  What if in
late fall, just before the winter cluster forms, one shook colonies to
separate older bees from young by their ability to fly back to the hive
location.  Then try wintering equal-strength colonies composed solely of
older bees, or solely of younger bees, and compare the differences.

On question that I have is whether the older bees could revert to "wintering
bees."

Randy Oliver

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