InBreeding

[Floyd]

I have posted this on another forum and was helpfully pointed this way.

I live in on a remote peninsular (Scoraig) in the Northwest Scotish Highlands.

Prior to myself introducing bees 3 years ago, I have been assured by the people that have lived here for years that they never saw bees before my introduction.

I now have 4 hives plus one Nuc all raised from the initial single hive which I started with. The hive was from a split from the hive of the nearest beekeper who lives about 7 miles as the crow flys across a Sea loch. She no longer keeps bees.

My question obviously is how long can this small gene pool survive. I am in a varroa free area so introducing foreign queens would go against the SBA self agreed rules on moving bees into varroa free areas.

Are there any other beekeepers in Varroa free areas who breed queens or is it not a problem introducing queens from outside the area.

Many thanks

[gavin]

Hi Floyd

There are beekeepers in fairly isolated places in the Highlands who have happily kept a small number of colonies for a long time, so I think that either native stocks can cope with a little inbreeding better than other types, or perhaps queens mate over bigger distances that we usually give them credit for. Or both. Introducing queens from outside the area can be a pity as there are long-lived locally-adapted types in Wester Ross.

Are you in touch with Margie and others a little round the coast? She knows better than any of us where beekeepers are to be found on the coastal fringes of Wester Ross. There is a group that meet up in the Old Inn in Gairloch from time to time.

cheers

Gavin

[Jon]

Apparently drones can fly ten miles and have been known to do longer distances on occasion.
Bees do not like flying over water but having checked the location on google maps I do not think your peninsula would be truly isolated as the distances over water are relatively short.