Peter Dillon wrote:

> Taking this into another domain:
>
> Breeding of bees. Using the above as a truth, any selection for a
> trait, i.e. using a character and enhancing it will therefore have a
> cost, when the "new strain" is compared to the original. This would
> therefore suggest that a strain of bee exhibiting many of the
> required beekeepers aspirations is a pipe dream. Not only that, but
> the further we get away from the original model - the worse matters
> are going to be.

In the case of mites, they are under pressure to select for resistance
so when the pressure is gone they will revert to their original, stable
state. The key here is the beekeeper. The beekeeper controls the
environment so nature is not allowed to take its course.

Bees are selected by the beekeeper to enhance a trait. In addition, they
are unnaturally propagated through AI or isolated mating areas so the
trait is retained.

If the bees were allowed to naturally mate and no control was made to
perpetuate the trait, they would revert to whatever was necessary to
survive in that specific area based on the pressures in that area. (And
they might not survive.) But the beekeeper does not allow that by either
growing his own or purchasing queens with the desired traits. Even so,
as is noted by every living beekeeper, queens from the same source are
not uniform, so even then, there is some reversion. But the beekeeper
culls them out. (Dog and other animal breeders do this to maintain the
breed. If they allowed the dogs to open mate, they would get mutts.)

In essence, both cases are the same. The beekeeper selects (by the
application of pesticide) for resistant mites. The beekeeper also can
select for a certain trait in their bees. If he stops, in both cases,
the mites and bees will go back to a stable state, more in keeping with
what is naturally in the area. Varroa, unfortunately, is not "naturally"
in the area so the bees will not survive.

This is the holy grail of beekeeping. A bee that is tolerant of varroa,
where both survive. Then you have pressure on both sides and both
accommodate and reach a new "stable" state. Think Russian and SMR.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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