> >6.) Is this expression of thelytoky destructive like that of the cape bee
in
> >scutellata in South Africa, or a potential boon to US beekeepers?

> In what way would this be a boon?

This characteristic -- if it works the way Lusbys claim it works for them --
has been part of a previous wish list discussed here on BEE-L.  The queens
from laying workers aspect is just a bonus -- sorta like life insurance for
a hive.

The real payoff, if it is true, is that I'm told that such bees tolerate
multiple queens.  Lusbys claim to smoke in virgins successfully and get
multi-queen hives as a result.

Here are links to previous BEE-L posts on the topic of bees tolerating
multiple queens and why we would like to have such bees..

http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9712A&L=bee-l&P=R1246

http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0105A&L=bee-l&P=R701

http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0105A&L=bee-l&P=R1187

Tony Lalonde of Saskatchewan spoke at the AHPA convention recently, and he
talked about using a vanilla spray technique to chase mated queens into
already queen-right colonies.  This was part of his talk on how to get 400
pound crops.

Interestingly, Tony uses the same colour and marking selection criteria to
recognise the queens carrying the characteristic (multi queen tolerance) as
Dee does.  I am sure they have never spoken and their bees are from
completely different sources as far as anyone knows.  Tony's bees are in
Saskatchewan Canada and were taken over by him from an old European
beekeeper who had maintained that particular stock for decades or more
previously.  (The exact timespan has slipped my mind -- I need to listen
better) .

Of course I am speculating here a bit, as we love to do on BEE-L, and we all
know any such unusual bee behaviour could carry a downside. -- just consider
South African scutellata problems with cape bees.

Nonetheless, the risks are not proven here in America.  Dee and Ed seem to
be doing just fine lately, and that's thanks partly to the thelytoky, they
say.

allen