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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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From:
Jerry Bromenshenk <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 6 Jun 2018 12:49:18 -0400
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>Artificial selection may use the same mechanisms as natural selection,
> but it isn't the same.I tend to agree.  I don't think that because a human makes the selection criteria choices, that it is the same as the selection pressures of natural systems.To provide an example - most queen breeders that I know take into consideration a limited number of variables, often using criteria that of interest to them or their customers - pretty color or a specific color, egg-laying pattern, maybe previous season honey production, etc.   These are usually easy to see or to quantify variables.As I've mentioned before, when we put multiple colonies with high accuracy bee activity counters on line in the 90s, we soon found that in an area prone to frequent late afternoon thunder storms, the foragers from all colonies began to race home before the storm hit (usually 20-30 minutes before the rain).  After the storm, even if there was sufficient day light, no strong wind, warm temperature, the majority of our 27 monitored colonies packed it in for the day.  But a few (usually 3-4) consistently raced back out the door as the rain began to slack off.  This happened with virtually every storm event.That's something no queen breeder that I know of would even think to select for - delay time before re-establishing foraging.In the semi-arid areas of the west, where I've done a lot of our research, heavy rain may be followed in a day or so by desert blooms.  There's no apparent advantage to the foragers to race out right after the storm, better to rest up and get ready for a flow.   But, in areas like Seattle where I also worked for several years, many colonies struggle to collect resources during periods of frequent rain.  I'd guess that racing out the door as soon as the rain event diminished would be an advantage.  Those colonies are more efficiently using available forage time.My point, natural selection in an ecosystem context is multi-variate, often consisting of variables that may be important to the organism (e.g., bee colonies) but not considered or known to be important by the human selecting for traits.

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