In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest
processor <[log in to unmask]> writes
>The Roman gardener, who may have had a dozen hives, had to kill one to
>harvest honey. Which one would he kill?  Of course he'd kill the one that
>stung his kids every time they walked by.  That's a breeding and culling
>program that promotes gentle bees.
In skep beekeeping in England during the last century, the bees that
were killed to gather a harvest, were the heaviest ones.with the most
stores, and the lightest that probably wouldnt winter well.
Why should the Romans kill off a vicious colony when it may not have
much stores?
--
Tom Speight