In a message dated 27/12/2006 17:43:19 GMT Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: But, we are talking about *migratory beekeeping*. The idea of acclimation really doesn't apply here (if anywhere). One of the characteristics of honey bees (and people) is their ability to adapt to almost any climate. Nevertheless there is evidence that bees become accustomed to and thrive better in conditions to which, as a colony, they have been bred. The late Professor Len Heath kept bees on the high moorland of Dartmoor (SW UK) and also on lower ground nearer the coast of Plymouth. He reported that bees moved from one location another didn't do as well as those that were already there. There were reports from France a few years ago that when bees from the Paris area were moved to the SW and vice versa it was a couple of years before they caught up with the locals. Certainly bees are very adaptable: this is how they have managed to survive so long and so widely spread through very severe climate changes over millennia but there is a difference between surviving and thriving. We tend to measure things from our own point of view - usually how great a honey crop we can extract from a colony of bees. Or whether they have enough frames of brood at a certain time to entitle the beekeeper to pollination payments. Thus bees that are taken chasing crops or are artificially fed to stimulate accelerated out of season brood rearing and don't die in the process are likely to be accounted successful. Perhaps we need another bee-centric measure. As Peter reminds us; some species of honeybees do naturally migrate with the climate. Apis dorsata and laboriosa in India spring to mind as well as scutellata in parts of Africa; however this is not a characteristic normally associated with Apis mellifera mellifera, ligustica or carnica which are the ones with which most beekeepers are familiar and aim to stick with. In another mail Peter quotes Tew in associating Isle of Wight Disease with tracheal mites. Leslie Bailey, the author of Honey Bee Pathology, casts much doubt on this linkage and suggests that one of the paralysis viruses was the most likely cause of that dwindling of bees; however the symptoms do not exactly match those currently described, but many more viruses are now known each with their own set of symptoms or none. Bailey is very insistent that the more colonies of bees kept in one location the more likely trouble is to arise. I expect that those looking into the present disappearances will be aware of this and be able to say that, where there are problems, how many hives there are within, say, a kilometre, or were before the colony was moved. Chris -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---