Genes

Nothing like genes to make things interesting. This picture is from the hive that started from a nuc this spring. The queen came from somewhere in northern California. Most of the summer the hive acted pretty much the same as the hive that started from the Georgia package. But while the package bees are all the "normal" 3 banded Italian golden yellow color check out these bees. There are bees the color of 3 banded Italian, one near the lower left has the black body of a Caucasian, and there are the grayish bees typical of Carniolans. All these different traits from one queen. Amazing. Hopefully this nice diversity will translate to a nice strong hive that is going to make it through the winter just fine. The last week or so it has been 50s during the day and 30s-40s at night and these girls are still more active than they GA bees. They also have put more weight on while I have been feeding them. Ain't genes great! (Click the image for a better look.)