>Stallions and bulls are known to jump and/or crawl fences routinely.

Build a better fence - or put down the offspring.  Either way it is not the 
same as multiple mating with bees.

>Seems that the bee can hold its own then, without the need to try to 
>control
others' practices.

I would not regard 42% as 'holding its own'.

>Interestingly, some studies have shown that bees of different strains from
adjacent yards do not interbreed to nearly the extent we would expect. 
Timing
of mating flights and many other factors apparently greatly reduce 
inter-mixing.

This well-known strategy of A.m.m., but there are clearly limits to how well 
it can work if their are a large number of exotic drones in the area.

>I submit that this balance has always been influenced by man and that man
may very well have introduced the bees in the first place.

Man may have had some small influence - we know that bees were moved up and 
down the Nile on boats thousand of years ago - but they were not flying 
large numbers of them half way around the world (good evidence the there 
were no planes).

>I am always impressed by the variety we see in dogs and the huge range
of characteristics that apparently result from human management.

I would say that I was amazed rather than impressed.  Some clearly have huge 
problems as a result of human intervention, for example with their 
breathing.  Some cattle are in an even worse state as rsult of human greed; 
I saw a sugggestion that Holsteins may need bras soon.

>Are we to judge a bee solely on the amount of honey that it produces?

>Interestingly, I have that in common with those who produce bees and
queens for sale and who also prefer bees which reproduce readily

Absolutely right.  I could name some.  No interest in producing quality 
stocks for beginners - just something that breeds up quickly and makes them 
more money.

>Odd again that you should produce such a very round number.  I always
wonder how such numbers are summoned up.

Yes it was rounded (down actually - the true figure was 104.58 recurring).


Not to suggest this is the case, but do I recall that our neighbouring
province always reported their provincial average in numbers which ended
in a zero (not two) and was always larger than Alberta's.  Later we learned
that they were a fiction concocted by phoning a number of large beekeepers
and asking.

As a fellow beekeeper said to me about beekeepers discussing yields:
"First liar never had a chance".  Of course, none of us would ever make
numbers up, but I hear that 87.32% of all statistics are made up on the
spot.

Anyhow, Saskatchewan heavily controlled imports and movement of bees
in the name of protecting from mites and other invaders while Alberta did
not.  At the end of the real-world experiment which began in 1986, we see
that Alberta, where we deliberately avoided regulation and quarantines, but
encouraged co-operation by showing leadership has continued to have a
healthy expanding bee economy.  On the other hand, Saskatchewan has
steadily lost beekeepers, hive numbers, and production.

That is what comes of attempting to promote bee health over the economic
health of the industry, or did in this case.  Other Canadian provinces, all 
of
which were less free than Alberta have suffered declines, apparently in
proportion to their regulatory load.  Alberta alone has prospered.

> Would moving to ligustica provide a better return... If so, should I do it
> because I would make more money?

>Ligustica is not the only -- or necessarily
reasonable choice,

Given purely as an example - we do have a lot of ligustica in this area. 
But point taken - I might get more from others.

Now back to the bees - I saw the first flowers are open on the rape and I am 
already behind with my work.  Looks like it is going to be an early season.

Best wishes

Peter 

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