Apis mellifera mellifera does it better

[prakel]

what alarms me is the information about carnie x capensis hybrids. Do they have capensis in Poland?

There's a very short report here:

We have had A. capensis bees in Poland for several years. The Cape colonies were in an apiary together with Italian, Carniolan, Caucasian and Middle European bee colonies. No invasion of normal European queenright colonies occurred. However, problems occurred with queen rearing colonies. Capensis workers invaded such colonies. Queen cells were destroyed and Capensis workers started to lay eggs.

Invasion of Capensis bee by J. Woyke 1995

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...f5GJUA7zw5yHBw

[Mellifera Crofter]

... and Polish packages coming in to Aberdeenshire via your local bee farmer, although I doubt they are bringing in *that* sort of thing. ...

I was thinking of him! Nice chap though.

There's a very short report here:

That copy of an email is dated 1995, and even at that stage he said Poland has had capensis for a few years - so, maybe he is right in saying that scutellata queens are responsible for their own hardship in that scutellata queen pheremones are too weak to suppress the worker ovaries of capensis, and that the same thing only happens in weak European honey bee colonies such as in nucleus colonies - that's if I understand him correctly (I think his English is more mangled than mine):

Thus the race of invaded bee must be an important factor. Queen substance of A. scutellata may not, and of other races may suppress the development of ovaries in invading Capensis worker bees.

I still think it's a spine-chillingly stupid thing to have done - to import capensis to Poland. I hope they stay there. Ps - no, I hope there's no future for them there or anywhere else in Europe. They belong in the fynbos.

Kitta

PPS - Oh ... Which local bee farmer? Do you mean our own C4U? C4U? I trust him! But there's another bee farmer - a Polish chap. He only arrived in Aberdeenshire a few years ago and imports packages from Poland.
K

[Calluna4u]

Very old stuff. None of my Poles know anything about it and have never heard of or seen any issues at all, and these are the beekeeping college educated ones.

The paper seems to jump continents without saying so as where in Poland would you find capensis invading scutellata whilst working on the aloes?

Non story if you ask me.

[prakel]

I don't see any ambiguity between the first paragraph which clearly claims to refer to a research apiary in Poland; the second transitory paragraph and the final reference to capensis in it's natural environment. Non story is about right as it's a reference to a controlled research project but in reply to Kitta's comment, if true, it gives a historical confirmation from an internationally repspected scientist, that they did/do have capensis in Poland. Taking things at face value I don't personally see a problem, in fact if anything it appears to demonstrate a high level of control over several decades.

[The Drone Ranger]

I knew Copernicus was Polish but thought he died a while back