randy oliver wrote:

> 
> The managed bees were quite yellow (this is a major characteristic that they
> breed for), gentle, and calm on the combs.  The ferals were darker, banded,
> bees which were much more defensive and active on the combs.

I am ready to be corrected on this, but I had the same problem that 
you have in reading the studies findings. The conclusion I came to is 
the bred bees are different, but the bees that are not bred through 
selection are not changed from the ferals. Or, put another way, the 
Laissez-faire  bees are the same as the ferals even though they were 
physically separated and did not interbreed.

So what you observed is the same as the study. The key to the study 
was that even thought they have been physically separated for years, 
both were still the same.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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