RICHARD BARNES writes:
>       Is it common for feral bees to be more agressive and does nature make
these
>bees larger or are beekeepers breeding for smaller bees?
 
     Many hobby beekeepers keep only bees that are collected as swarms and
they do not requeen.  In twenty-plus years, I have not heard anyone suggest
that feral bees are any different from package bees.  Feral bees that swarm
have been successful in the area where they live; this success is a vote in
their favor.
     I hasten to add that in my Varroa-infested area of southeastern
Pennsylvania, USA, I am not seeing evidence of any feral bees.  This is a big
change from the experience of the last twenty years.
 
Tim Sterrett
Westtown, (Southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA
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