To all and Barry S.
Barry asked :
"Thank you for a wonderful and truly fascinating piece. It was truly lucid
as well, but for one question I would like to pose to clarify some of your
descriptions. Just what race of bee is it that is inhabiting the apiaries
and hives that you so carefully describe?"
 If you are talking about my own bees then they appear to be Italians but
not sure as they are urban feral bees. This was a big mistake on a part of
an owner who wanted to own an observation hive in the early 70's sometime
after 1972 and was reproducing swarms until this year when I had the
foresight to acquire the only available swarm. The only other that was known
in the condomium project was destroyed by the manager by the aerosol can
method. Those were Starlines or a reasonable facsimile there of.
       Make your self the best authority on the bees you have. Observe them
and read everything you can on breeding bees.
        In your case look for the hive that sticks around and other traits
that a normal situation in your micro-climate would best accommodate in
other areas of quality behavior traits. If you have a 1993 "Hive and the
Honeybee" Pages 32 - 33 discusses "The Utilization of Natural Differences
among Bees" would be a good start but I know that there is more than that to
it.
Respectfully Submitted

Harvey Gussow