Dee,
<Rubbish to me and contrary to Nature's doings.>

I don't mean to be disrespectful so I apologize if it comes off that way,
but I'm not sure what you mean by contrary to Nature.  I practice
agriculture, which is always contrary to nature, pretty much by
definition.  If you're talking about bringing in stock from other locations
I can agree to a point.  I try to buy stock that is best suited to my area
and needs, but for me buying local is kind of pointless since most of the
local bees spend the Winter in the South.  I could go with ferals, but
again with all the hives shipped in I can't imagine it's likely that they
are anything but swarmed off commercial bees (not that stops me from
collecting them and cutting them out of buildings).  If I wanted natural
bees I would end up with bees that make enough honey for winter and then
swarm.  Though I enjoy keeping bees and building wooden ware etc I also am
rather partial to excess honey and not going broke.  This is a hobby for
me, but it'd be nice if it cost a bit less.

Mike,
I'll be interested to see the same thing, I've got half a dozen Russian
nucs on order this year.  I'm thinking of setting up a second yard for
them, but I really don't like the idea of not being able to walk out back
to peek at them constantly.  If all goes well I may try to convert
everything over while my hive numbers are still small.  It will take a
while to evaluate though since I won't get them until late Spring and need
to see them Winter etc.  I've also heard that the hybrids can be hot, which
is worrisome, but I wonder how much that depends on what they cross with.

Anyone have any experience along those lines?

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