Allen Dick writes:

>I got to wondering about Dee's info at Barry's site since I
>mentioned it recently.  I see that it has evolved considerably and
>is worth a read. [go to] http://www.beesource.com/pov/ahb/index.htm

At this web site you will find:

>1. Dark (brown/black) cold-weather bees exist naturally below 30
>degrees latitude where higher altitudes permit.
>2. (Yellow) hot-weather bees exist naturally above 30 degrees
>latitude where warm thermal areas permit.
>3. Small caste races/strains of hot-weather (yellow) bees exist at
>the Equator and large caste races/strains of cold-weather
>(brown/black) bees exist as they approach the poles.

I am not sure where this idea originated, since there are no
citations, but it can easily be shown to be false. Generally, there
were dark bees in Europe and yellow bees in Africa, but there are
many exceptions.

>The Italian bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) ... Workers and queen
>have a conspicuous yellow color on the abdomen. They are very
>adaptable to different environments. [Its native range is around
>latitude 44-45 degrees, this bee was imported into Massachusetts in
>the1860s, latitude 42 degrees]
>
>The Tellian bee (Apis mellifera intermissa) is native to most of the
>coast of North Africa, from the Libya desert to the Atlantic coastal
>belt. It is a black bee, which is easily alerted to sting. It seems
>to be the only race that can live in the climatic extremes of this
>region (latitude 30 degrees). These bees are unsuited to more normal
>temperate zone conditions.
>
>The honeybees of Madagascar (latitude 20 degrees) are considered to
>be indigenous; they are uniformly black. -- Eva Crane, Bees and
>Beekeeping, 1990

--
Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>