Some people questioned my statement that there are no wild Apis honey
bees in my region. Well, I don't live in a box. I have hiked the
hills of this region in all sorts of weather for ten years and I have
*never* seen a bee's nest in a tree or cave.

When I lived in San Diego, I saw them all the time, so I got pretty
good at spotting them by the flight activity. Usually, what swarms
come out end up in the wall of some old house. In this region they
seldom make it through the winter.

This winter, being especially mild, perhaps some did. I was called to
go look at a "wild" bee hive in an old house this spring. When I got
there, they were already dead, starved.

Quite a few years ago, Tom Seeley did an inventory of feral colonies
in an area of forest not far from here. He told me he wanted to go
back and do it again. When I said I didn't think any bees would be
left there, he agreed that was very likely.

--

Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>