Greetings all
 
Stan Sandler asked about breeding bigger & better bees:
>
> Does anyone know whether someone has tried to breed bees selecting for
> larger size?  It seems to me that there might be numerous advantages this
> would confer:
> the bees could carry larger nectar and pollen and water loads;  they might
> be able to "buzz" pollinate blueberry blossom (maybe cranberry too, I don't
> know if bumblebees do that in cranberry);  they might be able to fly at
> lower temperature since their surface to volume ratio would decrease;  and
> they might even be more prone to chewing up varroa mites as their larger
> distant relatives the bumblebees apparently do.
>
The person to consult in this is probably Professor Jerzy Woyke of
Poland; it has been an interest of his for some while and he
presented a paper on precisely this theme at the Apimondia conference
at Lausanne.
 
Regards
 
Mike
 
 
 
Mike Allsopp                       Honeybee Research Unit
Tel: 021-8874690                   Plant Protection Research Institute
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