Anne Becker wrote:

> I have recently spoken to a woman in Arizona who "cleaned out" her hives, and
> combined feral swarms with her surviving colonies. Though I don't know much
> about beekeeping, this seems to make sense to me. She says the bees are quite
> docile, and disease/mite free.

"docile" is a relative term, and anyone in 3/4 of Arizona who wants the ease of
management we experienced here 10 years ago has to buy their queens from Georgia
(USA). The days of working bees in t-shirts are over here. The mite resistance,
however, seems attainable through local crosses.
-----------------------------------------------------------
John F. Edwards
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
Tucson, Arizona
Lab webpages:
http://198.22.133.109/
http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/home/edwards/index.html