Hi Kiyoshi / and everyone else, I have posted this to the list in case anyone else has any ideas, I write trembling in case my English is not up to the standard required for this list! My lab is involved with the distribution and evolution of Ty1-copia retrotransposons and the role these elements have in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes. Currently I am trying to develop these transposons as markers for genetic mapping studies, and using the amalysis of the populations to determine the relatedness of differrent species, and differrent isolations of the same species I am using a PCR based approach to look at Ty1-copia retrotransposons in plants. We use regions of the reverse transcriptase gene which is conserved accross the whole plant kingdom, and have recently discovered another region which is conserved throughout the plants and also through insects to the reptiles and amphibians. I should be able to test for sure wether Ty1-copia retrotransposons are present or absent in honeybees quite easily using this approach. I have access to bees, but have you (or anyone else out there) got a quick method for the production of a small amount of PCR grade DNA from a handful of bees. Thanks Steve Pearce (PhD)