"Survivor bees" found in Blenheim Forest

[pargyle]

Yes it was the “I know where you live bit that alarmed me” Hey ho don’t mess with an ex copper.

Or a barrack room lawyer ....

 

[Newbeeneil]

Intriguing as that disappearance obviously happened fairly recently but after it was pointed out on here. Inconvenient truths and rugs?

His Linkedin profile seems to have disappeared as well…… spooky

 

[Finman]

maybe not 'suddenly observed', I would suggest; rather, seen around for (possibly) ever, but no longer so frequently kept by beekeepers. As I say, most of the ferral bees I've come across in my job as a tree officer have been blackish - pretty much the opposite ratio of black to the stripy mongrels we see in our apiaries.

But you are mad with your "subspecies". They are same as they are on continent Europe.
And your feral bees are escaped swarms. They live 2 years and then varroa kills them. Soon the hole gets a new swarm.

 

[Bumbling Keeper]

But you are mad with your "subspecies". They are same as they are on continent Europe.
And your feral bees are escaped swarms. They live 2 years and then varroa kills them. Soon the hole gets a new swarm.I'v

Know what? This isn't a decent kick-around of thoughts. I've tired of your self-important dismissal. It's a complex discussion and your dismissal suggests you haven't really looked far beyond your own opinions.

(diagram from Complex Demographic History and Evolutionary Origin of the Western Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera - worth a read, but only one source from a rich seam of on-going research)
It's a big - and really interesting - discussion. Start reading further. Try keeping an open mind and just allow yourself the opportunity to grow a little. Don't bother to reply to me.

 

[Erichalfbee]

But you are mad with your "subspecies". They are same as they are on continent Europe.
And your feral bees are escaped swarms. They live 2 years and then varroa kills them. Soon the hole gets a new swarm.

There was a PhD thesis produced some years back which showed just this in the UK.

 

[Finman]

Know what? This isn't a decent kick-around of thoughts. I've tired of your self-important dismissal. It's a complex discussion and your dismissal

And you are better. In the internet you have succeeded to pick a strange map. For example in Norway there is a red color on the areas, where only reindeers can live. If that is a black bee color, as well you can put color the Norwegian sea area. Even Spitbergen has bees.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Know what? This isn't a decent kick-around of thoughts. I've tired of your self-important dismissal. It's a complex discussion and your dismissal suggests you haven't really looked far beyond your own opinions.
View attachment 29705
(diagram from Complex Demographic History and Evolutionary Origin of the Western Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera - worth a read, but only one source from a rich seam of on-going research)
It's a big - and really interesting - discussion. Start reading further. Try keeping an open mind and just allow yourself the opportunity to grow a little. Don't bother to reply to me.

and what is the red shading supposed to represent?

 

[Finman]

r. Try keeping an open mind and just allow yourself the opportunity to grow a little. Don't bother to reply to me.

I have studied genetics in Helsinki University.
I learned for example English language in 5 years, when I read American biology and geography books.

Now 50 years later I should keep open mind in these innovative forums.

 

[Erichalfbee]

and what is the red shading supposed to represent?

The different colour shadings are where bees were sourced for their investigations according to the title of the map. The letters are what they consider different genetic lineages of those Mellifera and one Cerana
I didn’t know bees lived that far north for any to be sourced.

 

[Murox]

Know what? This isn't a decent kick-around of thoughts. I've tired of your self-important dismissal. It's a complex discussion and your dismissal suggests you haven't really looked far beyond your own opinions.
View attachment 29705
(diagram from Complex Demographic History and Evolutionary Origin of the Western Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera - worth a read, but only one source from a rich seam of on-going research)
It's a big - and really interesting - discussion. Start reading further. Try keeping an open mind and just allow yourself the opportunity to grow a little. Don't bother to reply to me.

You stated “I'm slightly saddened by the disparaging tone in some of the comments on here. Discussion shouldn't be tinged with belittling” in post 347.


Then you cited an article that proposes certain evolutionary events and movement/expansion over a long time with some supporting genetic lineage data. It claims “as honey bees colonized these new regions, numerous genomic regions must have experienced functional changes as honey bees experienced novel selective pressures.”
The paper ends by saying “These genomic regions may be used in future studies that aim to understand the genetic basis of adaptation to climate and could be used to improve managing practices.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The different colour shadings are where bees were sourced for their investigations according to the title of the map. The letters are what they consider different genetic lineages of those Mellifera and one Cerana
I didn’t know bees lived that far north for any to be sourced.
View attachment 29709

sounds like a load of guff to me - I may have time to read it later

 

[Arfermo]

sounds like a load of guff to me - I may have time to read it later

Damned sure I won't.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Damned sure I won't.

I lost the will to live a quarter of the way through

 

[Arfermo]

I lost the will to live a quarter of the way through

Going to continue haunting us though?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Going to continue haunting us though?

Nope. When my time is up I will cease to exist

 

[Boston Bees]

Nope. When my time is up I will cease to exist

I think you will be reincarnated as a pure black bee in an idyllic English woodland

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think you will be reincarnated as a pure black bee in an idyllic English woodland

Unique then?

 

[Ian123]

Unique then?

100% RAW

 

[Erichalfbee]

100% RAW

Now you’re talking. Worth coming back then.

 

[Bumbling Keeper]

Hey, Happy New Year everyone. I'm not sure where anyone is coming from on here now. Such apparent belligerence - maybe if we were all in the pub somewhere the tone would be different, or at least coloured by the mickey-taking I hope is taking place.
Personally, I am not holding a hard-and-fast opinion on this; I've merely tried to illustrate that the (wider) discussion is far from over in scientific circles, so none of us is really qualified to make a decisive judgement on the question - even Finman with his 50 years studying genetics... And I'd have thought that anyone actually in that field would know more than anyone outside it how much our knowledge base is changing and how rapidly. Stuff I learned 45 years ago has been superceded over the past 20 years - five years even. And, in wider science there are things we were taught at school which have now been shown to be just plain wrong. (I found a book from my childhood a while back; shocking!)
So, I hope everyone is chilled. Wishing you all a really cheerful and uplifting 2022. Heavens' know we need it after the last couple of years.