From: Erik Osterlund <honeybee@elgon.se>
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 23:20:21 +0200
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Ferals (was egyptian stock)

Trevor

It's interesting you mention ferals are mainly mellifera mellifera. How
come when there are so many managed colonies with Italian stock around?
Wouldn't the ferals be moreinfluenced by Italian genes? Have anyone tried
to explain this?

Erik

-----

...(snip)
>I have caught ferals that have swarmed and a couple I forgot to requeen.
>They did not perform very well and swarmed within a couple of months. This
>is not surprising as I believe it is in their genes to swarm as they are
>mainly related to the old Apis mellifera mellifera which was the first honey
>bees introduced into Australia.
>
>Whilst others in the world may be able to breed successfully from ferals,
>here it is not the case.