I do enjoy seeing you two debate your various points!  Each of you have good
ones.  May I comment upon two of them?

>Yes, but with cattle a farmer can keep what he chooses without affecting
his neighbours; not so with bees and there lies the crucial difference.  We
see the same thing with GM crops.

There is a constant influx of new genetics and epigenetics into any natural
population.  Natural selection constantly winnows out the ones that do not
increase fitness, and promotes the propagation of those that do.  In the
roughly four scientific studies that I've found that have actually analyzed
the genetics of feral bee populations, the feral population had maintained
its genetic integrity despite the constant influx of genetics from managed
bees.

I would expect the same to hold true for A.m.m. anywhere in its natural
range that it is well adapted for the environment, and that the influx of
outside genetics is not overwhelming.

Those following this thread would do well to read:
Varying degrees of Apis mellifera ligustica introgression in protected
populations of the black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, in northwest
Europe http://www.gbbg.net/pdf/ligustica_incursion.pdf

Their findings confirm that classification is a construct of humans--nature
deals in populations, rather than scientific names.  A.m.m. is in reality a
group of genetically different populations itself.

Each of those populations is an evolutionary "baby," since most or all of
A.m.m.'s "range" was buried by glaciers not long ago.  Obviously, A.m.m. is
a rapidly evolving invasive race, and its current allelic diversity is a
mere snapshot in time, not the end result.

The incursion of novel alleles, if adapted by the feral population, would
indicate that those alleles were positively adaptive.  However, as the
authors suggest, it would be wise to maintain genetically isolated
populations of A.m.m. as future breeding stock.

>  I just think that [Brother Adam] was misguided in what he did and wonder
> what might have been had he put so much energy into breeding A.m.m.


I suspect that had he not been caught up in the "sexiness" of importing
exotic stocks, that he could have bred an excellent bee from the native
survivors.

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
ScientificBeekeeping.com

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