> What is the effect?  Are Canadians (with the assistance of Darwin) developing a hardier strain of bees better able to cope with their northern climate?

You hear this sort of thing all the time, but I question whether natural selection works that rapidly. Honey bees lived a million years in the Alps before they came to Alabama. 

Artificial selection (breeding) is another matter, but bee breeders don't select for bees that don't winter well (despite the inescapable logic of doing so). They may select for other things, but not that.

Pete

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