>I posted a question recently in "solstice and bees" wondering what cues >prompted the resumption of brood rearing. No one seemed to have any >opinions on the subject. I will try to rephrase the question in hope that I >can encourage someone discussion. I remember once hearing/reading about hives with 'local' (read: bees bred in the areas) that were moved to new locations. My memory of it was a French location that had a boomer of a dandilion honey flow early in the spring, but little main crop or autumn flows. The other site was a (Scottish?) heather site, where there was no flow of any sort until the calluna flowered in late autumn. The bees in their 'home' locations had population build ups to suit - the French bees brooding up very early, the heather bees remaining as a small colony through the spring and summer, but with main brood rearing late in the season. The story went that swapping the hives to the other location caused havoc for both sets of hives. One lot didn't build up in time to get the dandilion flow. The other built up in the spring when there was nothing there for them and then collapsed before the heather finally appeared. The 'punchline' was that it took the colonies 3 to 5 generations before the 'smarts' were instilled in their genes to allow them an appropriate broodrearing strategy for the local conditions. NOTE: This is a good story only, and I've quoted it often, but I can't for the life of me remember where it came from, or the credence that could be given to it!! (\ Nick Wallingford {|||8- home [log in to unmask] (/ work [log in to unmask] NZ Beekeeping http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/nickw/nzbkpg.htm