The English language is too flexible at times. Definitions are not necessarily set in stone. Quite often what is "known" to be the definition of a word in a particular industry or social group is not th strict definition found in the dictionary. I believe that to most beekeepers the term "feral" bees refers to a colony of bees(the bees not the hive) that are not in equipment provided by a beekeeper. Therefore unmanaged. Joe Waggle will correct me, please. But I think that his "Domestic ferals" are swarms that he has harvested from perhaps remote areas and /or colonies that he has removed from the walls of someones home. Whether any genetic difference exists or not, the comb that these bees make (without provided foundation, I believe) and some of their behaviors are what"Organic Beekeepers" and Small Cell Beekeepers are trying to get people to see so that conventional treatments don't have to be used. Wouldn't that be nice. These ideas require a leap of faith that most beeke!
 epers
 aren't ready to make. I'm skeptical, but I'm also interested to see where this line of thinking will take us all in the future. I'd like to think that all it takes to combat varroa and AFB is a change in the size of the cells in the comb. I wish it were true. I just haven't taken that leap yet. But I'm going to keep my eyes and hopefully my mind open to the possibility that they are right. There's an old joke about Unitarian Universalists that goes, After death Unitarian Universalists would rather go to a discussion about heaven than to go see heaven for themselves. Well that's me.
Mark

Dick Allen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Domestic ferals

....and what, pray tell, is a domestic feral? Is it similar to the
term used by U.S. airlines? There are domestic flights and there
international flights. So, now we've heard about the domestic ferals,
why not explain a bit about the international ferals.

Regards,
Dick Allen

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---


---------------------------------
 Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---