--- mark berninghausen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

... 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.

The bees I have which were 'once ferals', can be
described as 'domestic ferals' I guess, now that I am
applying selective pressure to suit my own needs in my
bees they are by definition domestic.  But the main
point I am concerned with is that they are
distinguished as 'derived from that of the feral
population' as opposed to commercially bred bees.  I
don't believe all ferals are created equal and I
needed to do a fair amount of weeding out of poor
genetics.

...I'm skeptical, but I'm also
> interested to see where this line of thinking will
> take us all in the future...

It is good to be skeptical.  But my line of thinking
wasn't pulled out of thin air.  I would say more
accurately I am following my line of thinking based on
actual observations made.  Observations of bees are
leading my thinking, and dictating the direction I
must follow.  When you collect as many swarms for
several years as I have, you begin to see patterns
develop which show the quality bees are coming from.

When I for example collected 2 ferals from structures
this year from within a mile from another beekeeper.
Both performed so bad in the ridge, I culled one
within a single month, the other made it only 2
months.  When I collected swarms trapped in deep
woodlands, (3 this year) excellent out mating was
noted in all 3 and they out performed in my ridge
apiary.  Bees drawing a bit smaller cell are more
often known to be found in a totally different area in
farmland lowland.  So somthing is goind on here, all
bees are not the same, there are differences.


Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA
Small Cell Beekeeping
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
http://www.biologicalbeekeeping.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/




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