>I have little doubt but that they do when conditions are right --
especially AHB.   Ask the folks at the Tucson lab.

And then there is this gem:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1922927117

''Aggression in honey bees arises from the coordinated actions of colony members, primarily nonreproductive “soldier” bees, and thus, experiences evolutionary selection at the colony level. Here, we show that individual behavior is influenced by colony environment, which in turn, is shaped by allele frequency within colonies. Using a population with a range of aggression, we sequenced individual whole genomes and looked for genotype–behavior associations within colonies in a common environment. There were no significant correlations between individual aggression and specific alleles.'

We conclude that group genetics dominates individual genetics in determining the fatal decision of honey bees to sting.

'Our findings also add to the long-running “nature vs. nurture” debate, as the “nurture” (colony environment) of the bees appears to be the strongest factor in determining aggression. However, we characterized the different colony environments using the genetic composition of the colony and showed that the aggression levels of the colonies are strongly correlated to the frequency of specific alleles in the colony, regardless of the behavior of the individuals concerned.'

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