On Thu, 18 Sep 1997, Bill Bartlett wrote:
 
> Subject: Association of Southern Maryland Beekeepers meeting (U.S.A.)
>
> Guest Speaker: Dr. Anita Collins
>
> Topic: Drones - Mating
>
> One of the main things that I remember Dr. Collins mentioning is that since
> we have lost so much of our wild stock, the gene pool has shrunk
> drastically.  The bees that we order from package bee people carry the
> genes from their area.  When we have these bees and no wild bees, the
> matings that take place may be from drones from the queen's own colony.
> These produce diploids, which the worker bees can reconize and proceed to
> eat.  It was speculated that this may be a reason that the queens seem to
> fail or at least not to lay enough eggs to get the hive going strong.
>
> It may be a good idea to get bees from different areas or requeen from
> different queen
> raisers.
 
 Hi Billy and All,
 
  Nature will balance out. The problem is what blood lines and genes will
we have left. The researchers in genetics of the honey bee do understand
the
down side and the upside of the situation.We can use the cut back of the
gene pool to revitalize our gene pool with fresh stock.This has been
needed in the US for some time.Care must be taken in the selection of some
new stock. This is not an easy task or a fast one.
 We will have some problems with some queen breeders. We should find out
who has the best stock and is doing the correct crossbreeding. The USDA
needs to give us some info on what they are doing about the situation. It
is not a nonproblem to walk around.It takes money and let the USDA know if
you have a problem with your queens.That should get the issue out in the
open. Beekeepers need to get involved and not just complain to a fellow
beekeeper. We can not win with wet towels. Some areas of the world has
some very good stock. Its time to share are info more openly with
everyone.
 Beekeeping is very important to man and the world of nature.I have seen
gene problems and I have seen some very great queens and bees.We need to
protect some of the wild stock from around the world. Too much inbreeding
has already caused the beekeepers some problems.The issue of breeding is
very complex. It never ends at a point and we can say that were done.We
have models to follow so we are not making the wheel all over.
 HoneyBee Genetics by Dr. Rinderer has a wealth of information if you want
to see the complexity of bee breeding. Its not lite reading.
 
 Best Regards
 Roy