Peter Borst, whose instant access to the literature never ceases to amaze, quotes: “Restriction enzyme analysis of 422 feral honey bee colonies collected from non-Africanized areas in the southern United States revealed that over 21% of them had mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from a European race established in North America by the 17th century” From: Mitoehondrial DNA evidence for the 19th century introduction of African honey bees into the United States by N. M. Schiff and W. S. Sheppard Experientia 49 (1993) Very interesting. I would like to get my hands on that paper. Am I right in assuming the 21% from "a European race" refers to A.m.m.? I am wondering what the above snippet tells us about the history of viability of feral colonies since the introduction of varroa, and I wonder what a more recent study of this kind would show. Is it possible that the persistence of A.m.m. genes is in fact handed down from the old days or does it come from continual replenishment by more recently imported European bees? How would they know that the A.m.m. markers came from bees that were imported in the 16th and seventeenth centuries and not from genes more recently brought over from say Dave Cushman stock? Or am I just reading it wrong? Steve Noble ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************