--- On Tue, 2/2/10, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
.......
Most beekeepers do use purchased queens.
Locally bred queens will (over some number of generations) adapt to local conditions....this is in stark contrast to the "factory" queens that are proven to have a high supercedure/failure rate.

[[this is a quote from you (peter) quoting tony allsopp's dissertation on another forum...posted today:
..........   "A more sensible approach would be to: (a) Manage naturally occurring regional strains of honeybee, rather than importing strains from elsewhere. This is particularly important in Europe and Africa where Apis mellifera is indigenous and less so where it is an exotic species. (b) Practise "primitive" beekeeping as is the case in Africa by allowing natural selection processes to determine which are the most significant characteristics for selection and not the beekeepers or bee scientists, at least to some extent."]]
.
If this is the case, let's get rid of all the progress we've made agriculturally and go back to the way it was in the 11th century.   I'll bet you'll really like your steak that would be so tough that you might extract a filling or two chewing on it.   Let's go back to the grain that would produce anywhere from 1/2 to 1/5 the amount per acre that modern grains do (and that's not counting genetically modified grains - just grains selected for productivity and nutrition).  We are the beneficiaries of centuries of agricultural selection.  Why would/should not this selection process continue today with the honey bee.  

I think the genetics from wild/feral bees that have rebounded from the advent of the two mites, the inclusion of the two Nosemas, the small hive beetles, and so forth would be good.   But I also think that inclusion of genetics from SMR and VSH lines would also be beneficial in the overall genetic makeup of our bees.   Don't exclude something because it is something that has been selected for the bees by us, or has been imported by us (Russians) in an effort to get away from the chemical control of the above mentioned maladies.

I am now getting off my soapbox so as to avoid the majority of the refuse that is fixin' (that's a Southern term) to be thrown my way.   <Big Grin>

Mike in LA



      

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