On the question of short term genetic adaptation to novel environmental changes I believe that both Randy and Peter are correct.   Whereas the honeybee’s genome may not have changed appreciably over time as Peter would have it, the species has apparently stockpiled a nice inventory of traits that are subject to being brought to bear as needed for the current circumstance.  In this way and fortunately for the bee the turning on and off of latent traits, and to the degree that genetics (and/or epigenetics) plays a role, we observe the shorter term changes that careful breeding can bring about as per Randy.
             ***********************************************
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