>Does anyone have or know of anyone who has honeybee stock with eye color
>mutations?
>
Hi Joe;
 
        The normal eye colour in bees is black, but occasionally drones with
white eyes appear in a colony of black-eyed bees. The abdominal markings of
the drones may also vary and other physical variations may appear.
 
        The black eyes, the white eyes and the abdominal markings are
characters. The black eyes belong to the same morphological feature, eye
colour, as white eyes, but the two eye colours develop in opposing
directions and are spoken of as contrasting characters.
 
        Black eyes and yellow body colour are not contrasting characters;
they belong to different morphological features. Characters may be tangible,
discernible physical attributes, such as eye colours or they may be
physiological and intangible in nataure, such as temper or oviposition rate.
 
        Characters are the end products of the development of the bee from
germ cell to adult. Characters result from the action of the environment
upon determing factors in the cells which were transmitted from the parents
to the offspring in the germ cells.
 
        The factors are functionally discrete particles, also known as
genes. The genes are located in the chromosomes, arranged one beside the
other like beads on a string. Each gene occupies a particular position in a
particular chromosome; this position is the gene locus. The mate of the
chromosome has the same or similar genes at corresponding loci. The two
genes of a particular locus of a chromosome pair are often called a gene pair.
 
        I hope this has answered you question on eye mutations, if you need
any more information, please email.
Thanks from :
                        [log in to unmask]
                 http://www.eastend.com.au/~goble
            [log in to unmask] ( David Goble )
           American Beach Kangaroo Island South Australia