Hi Allen & all

> Moreover, not all strains of bees interbreed well, and if they do, not all
> crosses are stable.  Like oil and water, or gravel and sand in a stream,
> differing strains may re-separate over time, due to differing habits,
> adaptations, viabiliites, and deliberate selection within a hive through
> preference shown by workers for some (related?) eggs or queens over
others,
> and other mechanisms

It is just such 'oil and water' qualities that allow us to devise mating
strategies to favour one race over another in areas that have many strains.

One example stands out strongly... In Ireland the background has been AMM,
but over the last century or so various imports have been tried (mainly
Ligustica), the impact of these imports has been much less than that in
mainland UK, due partly to the weather and partly to the different mating
habits of AMM.


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman... G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
Email: [log in to unmask] or  [log in to unmask]
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman & http://www.dave-cushman.net

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