From: "Peter Borst" <[log in to unmask]>

> 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.

Hardy agreement.  The Aebis' books are a fun read.

> 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 colony has been replaced by that of another colony!

This is assuming that the trait is not present in all bees... rather than just a segment of bees.

> 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. 

Indeed, this is a ubiquitous trait... as the egg-stealing trait could be... though it requires certain environmental triggers to be exibited.

> 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*. 

A good point, but there are numerous geneticly-predispositioned behaviors that are not exhibited except in the presence of specific environmental triggers.  It is possible that the choice of a laying worker or a stolen egg as a survival technique might be controlled by environmental conditions.

Larry Krengel - thinking that evolution has been made too simple.

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