>I would love to hear all about it.  I think many of us feel that the
>breeding efforts are all over the map and often based on questionable
>assumptions.



> All in all, the commercial bee population is generally not genetically
diverse and not locally adapted. This is in complete contrast to the African
honeybee population which is almost totally unselected, and probably as
genetically diverse now as it was a thousand years ago. Bailey (1999) and
Allsopp (1999) have argued that selective breeding for "quality" by and for
beekeepers has decreased the resistance in honeybee populations to a wide
range of pathogens. Highly intensive selection has decreased genetic
variability and selected against critical "bee tolerance" factors such as
swarming and defensiveness (Bailey 1999).

> A more sensible approach would be to: (a) Manage naturally occurring
regional strains of honeybee, rather than importing strains from elsewhere.
This is particularly important in Europe and Africa where Apis mellifera is
indigenous and less so where it is an exotic species. (b) Practise
"primitive" beekeeping as is the case in Africa by allowing natural
selection processes to determine which are the most significant
characteristics for selection and not the beekeepers or bee scientists, at
least to some extent. It is also best to use an un-manipulated wild
population, and for this population to be as large as possible.

© University of Pretoria

Analysis of Varroa destructor infestation of southern African honeybee
populations. Master's Dissertation. Allsopp, Mike Herbert 

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