" But like they said, these bees test European for mitochondrial DNA. "

Could someone please explain why any rational person would even consider a genetic linkage between mitotype and aggression?  After all, mitochondria are tiny compared to nuclear chromosomes.  Mitochondria in insects have only 15 to 20 kilo bases versus a couple of billion bases for nuclear chromosomes.  Mitochondria in insects have more or less a dozen protein coding genes versus many thousands for nuclear chromosomes.  Those mitochondrial genes are highly conserved and critical to proper mitochondria function.  Functional mutations are nearly always fatal.  In fact, nearly all the original genes that existed in the parasitic bacteria that evolved into mitochondria have either been eliminated or transferred to the nucleus during evolution with the result that only specialized genes that have to do with mitochondrial energy production jobs remain behind.  The probability of mitochondria having anything to do with a behavioral trait like aggression is about the same as the odds of winning the lottery.

Dick

HL Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed — and hence clamorous to be led to safety — by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. "

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