On Wed, 2 Aug 2006 08:00:07 +0100, Ruary Rudd <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>The Aebi's is their books describe seeing a bee 'borrow 'an egg from a
>neighbouring hive

Greetings

First, I do not regard the Aebis as an accurate source of information on the
biology of honey bees. They are folksy writers and fun to read, but let's
leave it at that.

Second, suppose honey bees were to have a trait that causes them to steal
eggs to allow the colony to survive the worst case scenario which is loss of
the queen and no fertilized eggs left from which to raise one.

If they had the egg stealing trait, would this lead to their survival and
the perpetuation of this trait? Of course not. They would survive as a
colony, but the trait would not be retained because the blood line of the
colony has been replaced by that of another colony!

Contrast this with the trait for stealing honey from other hives. If
colonies lacked this trait, they could starve when they ran out of food
supplies; if they have this trait, they gain an advantage. 

An advantage allows them to outcompete other colonies and therefore the
trait would be passed on to future generations. A trait for egg stealing
will never be passed on. If the colony simply perishes -- or if it survives
by stealing eggs -- the net result is the same: that blood line is finished.

Furthermore, we all know that queenless colonies develop laying workers, and
the colony will "try" to raise queens from worker eggs. If they "think" they
are going to get a queen this way -- then why would they steal eggs? They
already have *eggs*. 

pb

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