Hi Madeleine/All
 
I enjoyed reading your report.
 
I would be interested to hear from as many british beekeepers what
funny symtoms their hives have displayed this past season.
 
The reason I ask is as follows. A number of researchers have over the
past few decades kept the Cape Honeybee, apis mellifera capensis in
various locations around the UK. This bee is unusual in it's ability
to infect other races hives by way of it's workers which are able to
lay diploid eggs(ie worker eggs) which can then be raised as either
worker or queen of pure capensis descent - ie no dilution through
mating. This queen will hence produce capensis like drones, and some
of the other eggs layed by her mothertype worker will quite possibly
leave the hive and infect other hives.
 
If one had a very warm winter, like much of the north experienced
last winter, these infected hives will have survived, as will cape
queens. If a hive is infected with cape bees, the other queen
(irrespective of race) is superceded withing a short time period by a
queen raised from the cape laying workers eggs.
 
So my explanation for the funny symptoms being mentioned could be an
increase in the background noise from cape bees which are varroa
resistant to a greater degree the northern races, are reasonably cold
tolerant, produce reasonable yields, are not very aggressive and
swarm quite a bit, emmitting often small swarms. They are also
genetically suited to cold wet drizzly weather and are conspicioulsy
black to grey in colouration. They also often swarm and don't raise a
queen cell for a few weeks as everyone is fighting over who's going
to be the mother of the queen. Once one or two lines have emerged as
dominant they raise a queen - I have had laying worker colonies goe
for up to two months before requeening. I have one nuc now which
raised nine queens, produced a few swarms and now has a handful of
bees that have gone laying worker and have started to rear a pathetic
little queen cell.
 
I will be interested to hear more input on this.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
After careful consideration, I have decided that if I am ever a V.I.P
the I. may not stand for important.
(rather influential, ignorant, idiotic, intelectual, illadvised etc)