This recent work explores the difference between feral and domestic bees, and also raises the difference between ecological vs. evolutionary time scales The results of our comparison of feral and managed honey bees in Apis mellifera support the view that it is unlikely that the mean mating frequency of queens is a labile trait than can rapidly evolve to adapt to ecological challenges. Franck et al. compared two subspecies in different habitats in Africa and found differences in mating frequency between them, but these populations probably diverged long ago and therefore have experienced protracted selection for higher or lower mating frequencies. The results reported here, which found no difference in mating frequency of queens in the feral colonies in the Arnot Forest vs. queens in the nearest managed colonies outside this forest, supports the notion that mating frequency of queen honey bees is shaped by natural selection acting on an evolutionary, not an ecological, timescale. Tarpy, D. R., Delaney, D. A., & Seeley, T. D. (2015). Mating Frequencies of Honey Bee Queens (Apis mellifera L.) in a Population of Feral Colonies in the Northeastern United States. PloS one, 10(3), e0118734. [Of course, this leaves unanswered the question of what causes the difference between the feral and the domestic population. It could be due to sexual attractiveness, country bees may not be attracted to city bees. Though I wonder how you could test this] *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html