> You are right we have only got one state completely capensis now. Let us = > wait till all of California is capensis before deciding if capensis is a = > good or bad thing.= Hmmmm. So far, this is the first statement (I think) that I have read that the capensis-like characteristics seen in Arizona bees are indeed because the bees are capensis, not just capensis-like. Is there any evidence other than a similarity in some behaviours, or is this just speculation? > bee will take over all over strains of bees. Do the Lusby's keep any = > other strains of bees other than the black super bee? If you look at my pictures at http://www.internode.net/honeybee/diary/ and http://photos.yahoo.com/allendick, you will see that most of their bees are at least partially yellow. HOWEVER, Dee tells me that to have the good disease and pest management in a hive, she looks for at least one sub-family of black bees and selects for that. > and wish the USDA had looked at = > their hives earlier if capensis genes are the cause of the large = > amount of thelytoky going on in their bees. I think they have. Maybe Dee will step out here and say something? > "Thinking if the bee looks like a capensis and has all the = > characteristics of capensis it must be capensis"=20 Well, that is just a maybe, and also still a big 'IF'. allen http://photos.yahoo.com/allendick