Hopefully Aaron will not censor my email... :)

>>Think about medicine, for example. Before antibiotics
and vaccinations people died from minor infections.

A lot of historians and doctors argue lethal infections subsided 
after sanitation and nutrition improved in overcrowded cities 20-30 
years before mandatory vaccinations. 

>>Sure, modern medicine makes people less resistant to disease...

...and cancer.  The immune system is also responsible for detecting 
and containing cancer cells.

>>Yeah, well, I disagree on this. I think the idea that the "bees in 
the woods" are somehow better adapted, is nonsense. They are just 
escaped swarms anyway so they are no different than any old neglected 
bees.

One would have to offer evidence to support either argument.  Tom 
Seeley has seen bees survive on their own in the woods in upstate 
NY.  

Have you collected any marked queens in the woods?  I've been 
collecting swarms and feral colonies for several years.  I get the 
queen 4 out of 5 times.  I have yet to see a marked queen.  I know 
supercedure, beekeepers not marking queens etc. but it's an 
indicator.  Most of my collections come from areas without known 
beekeepers.

>>If somebody wants more vigorous stock, they can simply let the weak 
ones perish.

Right.  Nature does it on its own as well.

>>A further disincentive to using wild hives is that these are a 
source of African genes.

Perhaps in the southern states but not up north.  There is a growing 
drive to raise northern queens for northern beekeepers.  Not just to 
keep Africanized genes out but also to have more productive, mite 
resistant stock.

None of the local beekeepers who have used stock from the south or 
California have been very happy with the inconsistent performance. 

>>no good will ever come from going back to the days when beekeeping 
was basically just catching swarms and robbing them, with no idea 
what was going on inside of the hive. 

I agree.  One needs to do selective breeding on their own.

Waldemar 

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