Absconded hives

[Colobee]

At least part of the reason AHB fare better with Varroa is the shorter brood cycle - 19 days vs 21.

While researching my Buckfast lineage, I was a bit surprised to find that they sometimes have genetics from a couple other African bees.

According to Brother Adam "The African continent is a genetic treasury." "The honeybee races in Africa are at least as differing from each other as the European races are between themselves. African honeybees are not only Scutellata ("the Africanized bee - from Southern Africa"), but also the interesting and promising Monticola from the East African mountains."

Similar research has found that, of the 8 other African races,  "(African races) may have something in common that makes them more tolerant to the varroa mite." They frequently appear to exhibit natural resistance to the the viruses caused by varroa.

Africans of the Monticola region are renowned for their low swarming tendencies, and were bred into the Buckfast line by Brother Adam. Similarly, the Sahariensas ( NW Africa) contribute "a very gentle demeanor" - in opposition to their infamous southern counterparts.

Cabin fever... - don't you just love it?

[Acebird]

so they are very reluctant to use that stinger.

Well they are reluctant to sting until they get old and near the end of their life.  Do you get stung by nurse bees?

[tjc1]

And, tjc1, how about bees "knowing" that if they sting you, they'll die, so they are very reluctant to use that stinger.  Did they learn all this stuff in bee kindergarten, or what?

BTW, I hope that I didn't come off as being a wise guy by using the quotes around 'know'. I was just trying to indicate that we can't really use that word in relation to bees in the same way that we usually do in relation to ourselves. 

[Dallasbeek]

And, tjc1, how about bees "knowing" that if they sting you, they'll die, so they are very reluctant to use that stinger.  Did they learn all this stuff in bee kindergarten, or what?

BTW, I hope that I didn't come off as being a wise guy by using the quotes around 'know'. I was just trying to indicate that we can't really use that word in relation to bees in the same way that we usually do in relation to ourselves.

It never occurred to me that you were acting like a "wise guy". I'd be very surprised if the scientists someday discover bees have reasoning powers.   I was using quotes for the same reason you did, not to somehow ridicule your use.  We okay?

[Dallasbeek]

Colobee, that's very interesting.  I seem to recall reading many years ago that Brother Adam used bees from Palestine in the mix.  Those may have been some form of African bee.  That's more a question than a statement. 

[Colobee]

Unfortunately, I'm getting a "Fatal error" message from the BS home page. That's where I've been digging through bunches of "winter" reading articles, including the above.

Strange - I clipped a link from there just this afternoon & can still navigate the forums... Maybe Barry missed a bit of mal-ware from the Friday hack?

[Colobee]

 They list Italian, English, French, Turkish and Greek, and in some cases East African and NW African.  I've also seen  mention of  Iran, Turkey and Madagascar. Palestine certainly sounds plausible.

[tjc1]

BTW, I hope that I didn't come off as being a wise guy by using the quotes around 'know'. I was just trying to indicate that we can't really use that word in relation to bees in the same way that we usually do in relation to ourselves.

It never occurred to me that you were acting like a "wise guy". I'd be very surprised if the scientists someday discover bees have reasoning powers.   I was using quotes for the same reason you did, not to somehow ridicule your use.  We okay?
[/quote]

No prob at all Dallasbeek - I was just making sure on my end!

[BeeMaster2]

I would bee willing to bet that bees know that they will die if they sting you. If that was not the case, they would never bother to head butt you as they do all the time.
A bee in the field will run from danger but around the hive it will stand and fight. That sounds like there is some understanding going on on the bees part.
Jim

[PhilK]

I would bee willing to bet that bees know that they will die if they sting you. If that was not the case, they would never bother to head butt you as they do all the time.

Bees do not have the cognitive capacity to 'know' anything in the way we 'know' things. A bee's sting does not always kill them, only in thick skinned mammals such as ourselves. I doubt very much bees know that if they sting and insect they will live but if they sting a mammal they will die.

Venom is an expensive commodity to produce. Many snakes and spiders will strike or headbutt as warnings, and will go so far as to deliver 'dry bites' without injecting any venom. If these don't work they will envenomate. I would imagine that we can say the same things about a bee - if a threat can be driven off by high pitched buzzing around the face and headbutting, then she will be able to conserve her venom. If this doesn't work, she will sting.

I'm not a bee scientist (I am a vet!) but this makes sense to me!

[GSF]

Phil, Interesting about the snakes head butting. I've lived in the country all my live. In this part of the world a snake "head butting" is unheard of. They bite. We have rattle snakes that will rattle a rattle on the end of their tails but that's the only warning you'll get.

[PhilK]

Phil, Interesting about the snakes head butting. I've lived in the country all my live. In this part of the world a snake "head butting" is unheard of. They bite. We have rattle snakes that will rattle a rattle on the end of their tails but that's the only warning you'll get.

Interesting, I suppose there is differences across species. I have worked with snakes that give a closed mouth strike, and know of snakes that will dry bite - but I am on the other side of the world to you! Nevertheless, the rattle serves the same purpose - it is the warning system telling you to back off, and allowing the snake to conserve that venom, as well as avoid a possible injury by attacking you. Nature is full of these examples - spiders and scorpions will make a display and mock strike, other animals will puff themselves up to appear bigger. It stands to reason (for me at least, and I may not be right!) that bees have a similair system of warnings (headbutting, flying around the face, that high pitched buzz). Animals would generally rather avoid a confrontation for self preservation reasons. Regardless of the type of warning, if you ignore it you're going to get bitten/stung.

[Acebird]

I couldn't agree more with your logic but I can't pear into a bees mind.