> 'The conclusions from this comprehensive field experiment all tend to confirm the higher vitality of the local bees compared to the non-local ones...

When someone coins a new term like "vitality", and assigns that quality to "local bees", questions arise. Pointed questions.

The obvious one is "What tangible things did they actually measure, and label with the grandiose term 'vitality'?"

They say in their review paper: "Apart from parameters such as overwintering and colony build-up, close attention was paid to vitality parameters, such as mite infestation level, hygienic behaviour and the occurrence of other diseases."

No explanation is offered for how "local bees" are able to score better on these metrics, and no attempt was made to explain how breeding from a SMALLER population might enhance the scores in these metrics.

The nearest I can come in comprehending this sort of review paper without going and reading each and every paper cited myself is to point out that both New Hampshire and Vermont (two tiny states with very extreme personalities) publish similar statements about the superiority of THEIR maple syrup, and each has never found the other's maple syrup to be equal to their own, despite the identical trees, identical husbandry and processing, and identical climate.  One can easily toss a rock across the Connecticut River, which divides the two states, so there is no significant terrain barrier that might have caused any sort of phenotypic variation in the maples. But the divergent characters of these states prompt the same sort of Rotary Club boosterism that so easily becomes jingoism and xenophobia.

But here's a clue - legit breeders of bees strive to obtain genetic material from all over the planet, and attempt to summit massive paperwork mountains to enable these importations.  

I wonder why they go to all that trouble, and why queen producers pay them license fees and high prices for breeder queens if these local bees are so much "better-adapted" to the conditions?

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