>Tambien yo coincido con esto: Una cosa es que no haya evidencia de la
>presencia de las abejas meliferas en Arizona y California antes de 1850 y
>otra distinta es que realmente no hubiera abejas ya para esas fechas.


I also agree with this: One thing is that there is no evidence of the
presence of Apis sp. in Arizona and California before 1850 and another
thing is that in reality there weren't any bees before these dates (sic).

>En Baja California he estado hablando con personas mayores y me dicen que
>recuerdan referencias indirectas de personas que aprovechaban miel de
>colmenas silvestres a finales de 1800, y es esta una tradicion
>bastante arraigada entre las comunidades indigenas de la Baja
>California... Tampoco yo he podido encontrar referencia alguna acerca de
>las abejas en tiempos anteriores a 1900 en Baja California, pero dudo que
>los misioneros no hayan traido enjambres con ellos. Por otro lado,
>suponiendo que las abejas hayan llegado al sur de Mexico en el siglo XVI,
>Seria imposible que no se hayan desplazado naturalmente hacia el Noroeste
>de Mexico? O acaso no pudo un enjambre viajar *de contrabando* en algun
>barco?

In Baja I've been speaking to older people who tell me they remember second
hand stories of people who robbed wild hives at the end of the 1800's, and
this is a tradition well rooted among the idiginous communities of Baja
California.  Also I've been able to find some references relating to bees
in times before 1900 in Baja, but I doubt that the missionaries didn't
bring hives with them. On the other hand, supposing that bees came to the
south of Mexico in the 16th century, is it imposible that they didn't
naturalize to the northwest of Mexico? Or isn't it possible that a swarm
traveled unnoticed on a ship?

>Agradecere cualquier informacion y/o referencia que sustente o refute lo
>anterior.


I'd be gratefull for any information or references that would sustain or
refute what I've written.

>Muchas Gracias!!
>
>Luis Alaniz