> Why do people knock bees coming off almonds?  Most of those bees are
young bees as the colony population explodes during and right after the
almond bloom.  Is the implication they are all compromised by pesticides?

I've split my hives strongly right after almonds for nearly 40 years--in
general, they come back just as Dick describes.  In recent years, there
have been some serious issues with IGRs in some orchards, but growers are
greatly reducing the use of them.  And sometimes I observe some worker or
brood issues if I leave the hives in too long after bloom, when the growers
are spraying fungicides.  But in general, good colonies going in turn into
huge, healthy colonies coming out.


> >We all know that a natural swarm is the hardest working bunch of bees you
> can get. They are of all ages, so far as I know.

As I recall, Seeley found that they consist mostly of younger workers--you
could confirm.  Older workers would not be expected to live through the
first brood cycle, so little reason for them to leave with the swarm.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html