allen dick wrote:
>
> (1) Parthenogenic reproduction and reproduction by thelytoky are not 
> the same.  Parthenogenic reproduction is asexual, i.e. "cloning", 
> barring the very rare event of an autosomal mutation.  Thelytoky on 
> the other hand is sexual, albeit the same individual provides the 
> "sperm" and the "egg" which is a product of reduction division, hence 
> reassortment occurs.
>
> (2) Thelytoky has been around a long time in the US.  My photocopy of 
> an article lacks a readable citation but I believe it is Journal of 
> Economic Entomology, vol 36 pges 465-467 June 1943 in which Otto 
> Mackensen has an article entitled "The Occurrence of Parthenogentic 
> Females in Some Strains of Honeybees". Well before Kerr in Brazil you 
> might want to note.
>
> (3) Taber has a column in Gleanings (8/89) in which he mentions 
> Arizona thelytoky.  I talked to him about this at a later date but he 
> never mentioned the beekeepers name (Lusby?)  It had come about before 
> he retired from Tucson
>
> (4) Ruttner worked out the mechanism of thelytoky in Apis mellifera 
> capensis and reported his results in Apidologie 1983 vol 14 (1) pges 
> 41-57 among other places.
> (snip)
>   
> And, also, many of us think that thelyoky is a useful property in 
> bees, and in no way threatening.   
For paragraph 2- is that in the US? if so, I am sincerely confused since 
it looks like both are in US bees since paragraph 3 looks like it is. Or 
were they just looking and nothing has been found?

Thelytoky is the Cape Bee trait which we do not want in the US so why 
would it be a good thing? I know from reading about the problem between 
the Cape Bee and AHB in South Africa, that there is a strong effort to 
keep the Cape Bee in its place because it is a bad trait. So South 
African Beekeepers do not think it a good thing.

So what is in the Arizona bees, thelytoky  or parthenogenic reproduction 
or neither?

I need a little education on this since I thought I knew what thelytoky 
was all about, but 1-4 have confused me a bit. Help please.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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