> Well, one thing is: the people that sell bees think they are vastly
> improved but you rarely hear that claim from people that buy them. 
 Compare this to gains in
> other livestock. Production per cow in the United States averaged about
> 5,000 pounds per cow in 1925 to 22,000 pounds per cow in 2012. Much of
this
> is attributable to breeding.

The gains you speak of are in domesticated animals.  It is hard to make
that case for the honeybee.  If cows ran off to one's neighbor's yard as
often as one's bee do, you would not consider them domesticated either.  If
sow has a litter of pigs I can tell you not only who mom is but also who
the sire is.  Seldom is that the case in the bee world.

I guess it is like asking if the quality of moose of Maine has improved in
the last 100 years.

Larry Krengel

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html