> I am in complete agreement that the extinction of A. mellifera is extremely unlikely, certainly any time soon
Yes, but -- it could easily go extinct in some regions where it is was native, such as Northern Europe. You could have a situation where there might be 1% of what there are now. Not extinct, maybe, but you would hardly ever see one.
But we will never know because of beekeeping practices which prevent die-off or allow repopulation from southern regions, or regions that do not have varroa. The very discussion of honey bee extinction is witless, IMHO.
PLB
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