>Given the huge number of Colonies in the general area,  why do you think
these areas are still bee free?

 For the isolated desert valley, it is surrounded by a desert environment
not conducive to *Apis mellifera*. There are no managed hives anywhere
around, and no nest sites in the valley.  There are a string of these
valleys in Nevada that could be used as isolated breeding yards.

The lack of honey bees at the 6500-ft mountain locations surprised me,
since I've occasionally seen a honey bee at 7000 ft not far from there.
The summer season is relatively short, and the winters are cold and long,
but not more so than in the Northeast or Great Plains.  But the floral
resources are nowhere near to that of those two regions.  The forests are
mostly conifers, with, I suspect, fewer cavities than with hardwood
forests.  There are not a lot of managed colonies placed at this elevation,
and I suspect that any escaped swarms would perish from varroa.  All the
above are educated guesses only.

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
530 277 4450
ScientificBeekeeping.com


>

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