> The use of mtDNA to identify African-derived bees became more 
complicated with the discovery that populations of bees in north Africa 
and some parts of southern Europe possess African mtDNA. This includes
 > A. m. iberica, particularly from southern Spain
 > A. m. intermissa from Morocco
 > A. m. lamarckii from Egypt
 > A. m. sicula from Sicily
 > A. m. ruttneri from Malta
 >
 > This is relevant because honey bees from many of the these locations 
were introduced into the New World before the arrival of A. m. scutellata

I repeat all that because it is so crucial to understanding the AHB 
problem and it was posted under the subject of "Feral Bees", when in 
fact it is central to the question of what to do about AHB, and that is 
a topic generally being dodged.

The AHB bogeyman was created much like "CCD" to generate a focus and, 
not incidentally, funding.   In both cases there is a central truth, but 
it is elusive and undefinable.  In each case, when it arrives, it is 
obvious that something has changed, but after a while, it becomes 
difficult or impossible to delineate.

In each case, years later we are still asking ourselves how we can 
isolate and identify the factors underlying the problematic aspects.

I'd nominate your post for Post of the Year, Pete, but the year is not 
over yet.  Maybe you have more good stuff like this?

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