Allen Dick wrote back on 16Oct05:
 Some say that the genetics of your bee stock has changed
during that decade, with that selection pressure, and with
bees migrating through the region. In a few words, what are
your thoughts on that?


Reply:
DNA research has come forward a great deal in that time
frame also, and we now know that DNA changes eversoslightly
with each mating. So I would have to say that since I
firmly believe that Environment (which includes cell
size)is a catalist that then changes both diet and
breeding, then our hives' genetics have changed just by us
changing cell size.

What I don't buy completely is bees migrating through the
region, though I can see us being in a climatic
transitioning area between yellow tropical races/strains
and darker black temperate races/strains that naturally
break out by latitude. I say this because I really have not
seen a change in our honeybees since we have sized down
again be it temperment or otherwise, from what we saw
basically prior to any other bees supposedly passing
through.

But in saying this concerning the bees up in the hills, I
have seen change in bees in and around incorporated areas,
but rationalize this as due to beekeepers being told to by
stock from breeders (which few in the area really did
before) to keep from taking on traits of the bees migrating
through, which just by mixing and matching multiple
races/strains can cause problems creating artificially for
a few years what to me has been going on, though now with
most local beekeepers out of business the situation is
practically moot.

In the long run we shall indeed see Allen what the changes
are concerning all of this, for I still have saved in time
capsule the duplicate samples in alcohol, and sealed with
signed taping over the lids taken of our bees by state
inspectors, that were used by the Arizona Department of
Agriculture, in setting up our states data base for
Africanization confirmation and and also sent to the USDA
for their usage also for same. It is well way over a decade
for now for the samples. How long shall the wait be you
think? 20 years? More? to see what the changes have been.
And yes, I still believe in Native bees. Believing seeing
something different to say AHB never ruled out the
difference might be Native also.

Respectfully submitted,

Dee A. Lusby
Small Cell Commercial Beekeeper
Moyza, Arizona
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organicbeekeepers/






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