> Domestication is associated with a reduction in genetic diversity, but we have shown the opposite in honey bees. Higher genetic diversity in managed populations is probably caused by the honey bee’s promiscuous mating biology combined with human mediated dispersal. Management by beekeepers has allowed for honey bees to admix and produce ‘mongrel’ populations of greater diversity than that of their progenitors, and indeed more than other viable domesticated animals.   

> This finding is rather remarkable; while chickens, rabbits and silk moths have lost 50–60% of the genetic variation of their progenitors, managed honey bees have 71% more variation owing to admixture. Our results demonstrate that honey bees do not suffer from reduced genetic diversity caused by management and, consequently, that reduced genetic diversity is probably not contributing to declines of managed Apis mellifera populations.

Harpur, B. A., Minaei, S., Kent, C. F., & Zayed, A. (2012). Management increases genetic diversity of honey bees via admixture. Molecular Ecology, 21(18), 4414-4421.

More recently:

> There is no evidence for the typical population genetical domestication fingerprints in honey bee, this possibly owing to the frequent admixture of the managed honey bee.

Liu, H., Zhang, X., Huang, J., Chen, J. Q., Tian, D., Hurst, L. D., & Yang, S. (2015). Causes and consequences of crossing-over evidenced via a high-resolution recombinational landscape of the honey bee. Genome Biology, 16(1), 15.

             ***********************************************
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