On February 5th, we read on BEE-L: >Tom Seeley gave two very interesting presentations, one on how scout bees hunt for new homes (House Hunting by Scout Bees), and one on the possible return of feral bees, either because bees are learning to better tolerate mites, or mites are becoming less nefarious to bees. Unfortunately his data samples are limited, and the observations have not spanned many years, but he has hopes that honey bees are becoming better able to coexist in a mite infested environment. *********** On the first of the above two points, one can access the following web site: http://www.beesource.com/pov/wenner/abjjan1992.htm Or, of course, dig out the January issue of the 1992 American Bee Journal. How a swarm moves through the air has a simple explanation. *********** On the second of the above two points (better bees or milder mites?), one can read my letter in the September 1999 issue of the American Bee Journal ("Colony survival: A better bee or a milder mite?) Here in the Santa Barbara region we have had a resident population of feral bee colonies for the past several years. Those colonies have mites but persist nevertheless. I am glad to see that others have come to the same conclusions that we formed years ago. Adrian -- Adrian M. Wenner (805) 963-8508 (home office phone) 967 Garcia Road [log in to unmask] Santa Barbara, CA 93103 www.beesource.com/pov/wenner/index.htm ************************************************************* * "People have a right to their opinions -- * but that doesn't mean all opinions are of equal value." * * Pot Shot #9108 by Ashleigh Brilliant, used by permission ************************************************************* :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::