>>talking about the contamination (some might not like that word) of one race of bees by 
>>introducing exotic races .....  I would hope that I, and many others, are putting forward a 
>>coherent case ....

Now we come to definitions.  Exotic?  Ahhh hummmmm  der.    It would be like introducing one race of horses into the biome of another race.  If the introduced race survives without any additional help is it then exotic?   Where you are living, are the feral bees primarily Amm or are they a mixture of several other races?   If the others were exotice, would the feral population survive on its own?   

I can understand trying to keep a line of pure Amm because there might be some genetic advantage contained within the race that might be desired at a later date.  However, I do ask does the race you are promoting provide a clear and distinct advantage over the other races that have been introduced to the area?  All conditions being the same does one race stand out clearly above the others as being more valuable to us as honey producers than all the others?  If so, where is the data to back up that statement?

Mike in LA


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