Hi Eric

A few more playful thoughts...

 >>if, by their diligence, they achieve 4X amount of honey, then they can
 >>still survive if 3X is taken away.
 >
 > But why 4X?  Why not 10X or 100X?  It seems to me that enough and a
 > little extra just in case is all that bees have an incentive to
 > naturally produce.

It may not be apparent to US beekeepers who have the benefit of a 
considerable and reasonably steady honey flow, but Bees did not 
originate in the Americas, they were endemic in the area that I live in, 
which has a nectar production that is low and switches on and off many 
times per day. Under these conditions it is possible for a normal 
healthy colony that has not swarmed to make a net loss on honey in a 
season, but these conditions only occur about every five or so years, 
rarely would they occur two years in succession.

 > I'm inclined to
 > think that a lot of my manipulations as a beekeeper should be aimed at
 > redirecting the bees from swarming to extravagant honey production.

Unfortunately the present day has been preceded by a long era of skep 
beekeeping that has selected for the excessive swarminess of the bees we 
have today.


Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman or http://www.dave-cushman.net
Short FallBack M/c, Build 6.02/3.1 (stable)

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