Peter said:

> No evidence has been found to support the idea 
> that northern honey bee populations are either 
> polluted by African genes or that their genetic
> base has been precipitously narrowed, causing 
> widespread collapse.

This is easy to explain if one realizes that
the genetics in question were self-defeating,
and would prompt the "extinction" of that 
hybrid line quickly.

No evidence has been found in CURRENT stocks of 
bees, true.  But a very high correlation between 
the USDA-bred bees and "disappearing disease" in 
that SPECIFIC year was found.

High enough for a scientist to buck his own chain of 
command, going multiple pay-grades above his own.

And remember, Bill Wilson wasn't just a rank-and file
employee of the USDA, he ran a lab.  He clearly had
proven his expertise, judgment, and office-politics
skills, or he would not have been given the post.

There must have been some VERY compelling evidence
to prompt him to act in such a "career-suicide"
manner.

So, I agree that these stocks did not survive long
due to the exact defect that caused the "disappearing 
disease" symptoms, but I don't think that looking
after-the-fact at something that was clearly the 
subject of a "cover up" is going to result in much
evidence of the sort that would be "conclusive".

> Finally, as many have pointed out, widespread 
> die-offs were reported in the 1800s, and every 
> few decades ever since.

And the take-away here is that the die-offs have 
had different causes, and were poorly described, 
documented, and very poorly compared after the
fact.  

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