Many thanks to the lively debate about Apis m. in the Americas. I have a
question/observation. When I started with bees in the early '80's in Santa
Barbara County in So. California, the local old timers always spoke of the
Black Spanish bee. I had a hive of those, and up until now, I'd considered
this simply a misnomer. They were mean, black and outside of a couple of my
scut hives in Bushmanland in South Africa, the least favorite of all the
hives I've ever owned. So my question is: Am I wrong in assuming that they
were simply feral German bees? Could there indeed have been more of those
Spanish bees around than people thought?
Regards
Tim