Not asimpressively, A. mellifera sometimes does the same in desert areaswherenesting cavities occur predominately in trees in arroyos.  Similarly,in agareas with few remaining old trees, many colonies can sometimes befound in oldwooden barns. - randy

Ok, I've been in Malaysia, seen A. dorsata.  Dorsata colonies are naturally gregarious.  You can find hundreds in the same tree - but they aren't pushed up against each other.  Each colony has its own place on the tree.

If you're talking about A. mellifera in the deserts of SW Arizona, you can find them in caves.  Gerry Loper did work on that.  BUT, those were mostly AHB, the cranky race of A. mellifera.   I'll argue that A. mellifera isn't choosing to live gregariously, with lots of colonies in one place, but is doing so because of a shortage of cavities, dispersed across the area.  Which I know you know.  So, since I gave one  friend a bit of guff this morning, it's only fair I do the same with another.  

I'll admit, A. dorsata seems to like big, tall trees that stand-out in jungles, so maybe their gregariousness is also more of what they want/need in terms of where  the colonies are placed.  Clearly, they have easy access to fly over the canopy and they are so high that it must provide some protection from predators, plus they vigorously attack anything that gets near their combs.  But, maybe they just like the Penthouse view.

Best  Jerry

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