allen dick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Curious, what traits, and how consistent are they from colony to colony?

Hello Allen!

In these early days of the feral recovery,  results from assessments on 
captured ferals from different areas, suggests to me that breeding 
populations of honeybees can adapt traits specific to the micro habitats 
in which they live, and develop varroa resistance mechanisms adapted from 
resistance traits available in that breeding population to the degree and 
order in which they these traits are prevalent and or effective in 
relation to the environment factors found in the habitat in witch they 
live.  So I am beginning to look at each feral assessed as ‘representing 
the attributes of the breeding population inhabiting a micro habitat’, as 
well as ‘representative of the genetic attributes of the individual 
colony’.  Traits in these ferals seem to only be consistent withen a 
breeding population and can change from one breeding population to the 
next.

Hygienic behavior and smaller cell sizes seem prevalent in most ferals 
assessed.  But my interest is on traits that seem to stand out being much 
more prevalent in one breeding population and sometimes non existent in 
another.  Traits identified so far existing in some populations and not 
the other, being the most obvious are: * Intense Grooming Behavior 
identified in a specific farmland feral population in 2001 and * High 
Brood Viability together with * Enhanced  Foraging Abilities identified in 
a population of woodland ferals in 2005.

Starting with grooming behavior, I found this behavior easily passed on to 
daughter colonies, while other ferals outside the line do NOT exhibit this 
behavior.  The particular grooming behavior I am still in the process of 
studying because it does not meet the description of allogrooming 
previously described by Seeley.  So experiments this year will be focused 
on filming an actual grooming of a mite, as a means to verify the 
existence and if there be a purpose to the trait.  Because this line are 
my best performers I’m trying to find the reason why that is, so I am 
looking all things that stand out in this line.    

In 2005, I began to notice that woodland ferals were routinely and rapidly 
out pacing other swarms in growth and foraging abilities during 18 weeks 
of initial assessments, starting with ‘colony initiation’ throughout the 
first seasons ‘growth stage‘.  So I am actively targeting woodland ferals 
and focusing assessments of all existing and new stock on brood viability 
and foraging abilities.  

It is possible that woodland ferals have a highly developed foraging 
strategy.  Better able to scout and survey food source patches covering a 
vast area  due to the need to routinely forage several miles from the 
nest, and the pool reconnaissance of its foragers to focus foraging force 
on a few small but high quality patches found within the vast foraging 
area.  But the fact that they out compete in initial assessments suggests 
a honeybee that is  highly competitive and potentially better acclimated, 
both traits of high interest to myself.. 

>Also how do you figure to infuse these traits into the woodland bees?

The plan is to place a drone source colony in the area, and potentially 
releasing a swarm in the area.  I don’t know if it will work, but if it is 
a useful trait,  I suspect it will succeed in several years and become 
prevalent in that population of ferals.  If it is not a useful trait, I 
suspect it will fad away in that population.

Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle

EcologicalBeekeeping.com 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/

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