> So let me be sure I have this straight,  a 1930 researcher decided with some sort of experiment,  that there was no real difference,  so that’s where you hang your hat?? 

No, you don't. I have cited numerous sources from 1915 to the present. I am sorry that I have communicated so poorly that you have come to the conclusion that everything I know is based on one experiment from 1930. The difference between us is that you are talking chiefly about what you see on the ground, which is fine. I am assembling, as far as possible, a bigger picture which includes 1000s of observers around the world. You can take away whatever you like from it, I don't really care.

> Harpur et al. (2012) compared genetic diversity of managed honey bees to their progenitors ranging from East and West Europe, Africa, and managed North American and European populations. The researchers concluded that human mediated dispersal has led to admixed populations and thus the production of "mongrel" bees. (TAYLOR, 2016)

Comment: Turns out, having "pure" bees of any type may be important if you are trying to preserve original honey bee races, which we don't have here. In terms of health and vigor, a "mixed heritage" honey bee is going to be the better bet. 

¶

> During the spring and summer of 1950 and 1952, the Rev. Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey kindly collected samples of bees for biometrical investigation at the Rothamsted Bee Department. All samples came from apiaries which he believed to contain colonies of pure races only, and Brother Adam was himself responsible for the identification of all the bees. In general the northern races were dark, and those in Italy and to the south were light - with the exception of the dark Tellian and Sicula races. The Carniolans from Austria were dark, but those from Carniola were somewhat lighter. There appears to be a fairly distinct trend of variation extending from north-west Europe to the eastern Mediterranean, but few clear-cut differences are apparent between bees in adjacent regions. 

> The groups of bees have been described here as belonging to different races, but in general the names given to them have simply been taken from the country in which they were collected. The measurements themselves provide the only evidence presented here for supposing that the bees in each group are genetically similar, and distinct from those in other groups. 

Comment: I have heard this one before: "The groups of bees have been described here as belonging to different races, but in general the names given to them have simply been taken from the country in which they were collected." It looks as if the different countries want to claim native bees, delineated along national borders. In other words, Italian Bees, Slovenijan Bees, British Bees, Russian Bees.  The World Cup of honey bees, with the winner to be announced.

PLB

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