Charles,

This is purely conjecture on my part, but one attribute I observe that may
hint at local adaptation is the regulation of brood rearing in advance of
expected forage availability or the lack thereof.

Given the fact that it takes about one month for an egg to become a fully
functioning worker means that the colony is better served if it can
'anticipate' field conditions one month in advance. This is no small feat
considering the difficulty we humans have doing that even with the latest
technological tools at our disposal.
	
I think I am seeing local adaptation when I observe the ramping of brooding
in late winter which is supported by the consumption of winter stores.  The
colonies get very light in the process but end up with a strong field force
ready to exploit the spring flow just as it arrives.  The timing for all
this has varied as much as 6 weeks on the calendar over the very few years I
have kept bees, but they have gotten it right every year.

The same thing happens in late spring but in reverse.  What I see is that
even though we are still in our strongest flow of the year the bees will
reduce the nest way back and even stop brooding apparently in anticipation
of the upcoming dearth.  This timing of this brood break has not varied to
the same degree on the calendar as the late winter build up, but then
neither does the timing of the trail off of forage availability.

I am currently seeing the bees have again ramped up brooding and the nests
are huge, even though there is not much of a nectar flow right now.  There
is a fair amount of pollen coming in however and it is being used along with
stored honey for new brood.  I assume this is in preparation for the
exploitation of our fall flow which is around the corner.

What is unknown is whether or not this adaption is the result of many
generations of bees getting clued in to specific triggers over time in this
local area vs. more general triggers that would apply regardless of where
the bees are put.  I do know from talking to other beekeepers that have
brought queens in from other parts of the country that they don't
necessarily observe this same timing of brood rearing, but there may be
other factors involved such as the use of artificial feeds, and since I
don't use them this timing may be more obvious.

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