Allen


This is all quite fascinating.  Seems to me that some time back you were
> importing stock and with seemingly good reasons.  Has this changed?
>
> Stock is still being imported


> Additionally, it seems that while I was napping, somehow a consensus
> has emerged in the UK, favouring A.m.m.  to the point of institutionalising
> it and excluding non-A.m.m.
>

There is no consensus but the Amm lobby is very vocal.

 The further north you go in the UK the more appropriate Amm becomes
especially Scotland on the heather flow.

Bees left to breed uncontrolled in the UK will exhibit Amm
characteristics,black colour,slow build up, small brood nest, increased
swarming tendency, running on the comb and increased aggression within 3 or
4 years. It is a mute point whether these changes are due to Amm genes or
the imported stock.

Amm enthusiats have yet to produce for sale a reliable strain of Amm without
at least one or two of the above behavioural characteristics. In fact it is
hard to nail down anyone who will claim to have a pure strain of Amm. I am
sure that Amm genes are dominant in wild or feral colonies but in England I
suspect that there are very few pure Amm colonies.

I sometimes wonder if Amm enthusiats are more concerned with conservation
than beekeeping,



>
> It almost sounds as if an apian ethnic cleansing is at hand.
>
> What happened?
>

Don't be deceived many beekeepers are still using not Amm stock

Phil Moore

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