With regard to the possibility of investigating the gene inventory of the honey bee - it
seems to me, that this what the internet  promised to give to  the average PC user.
Great, fantastic, opens up the world and ...... what a relative bore in comparison to the
original hype. Life is life.

As a community, we have not yet understood what we deal with in our hives on a daily basis
- sure, questions are asked all the time - but due to restrictions arriving from diverse
pressures, too much still remains to be put in place.
The "thrill" of having the possibility of expanding the arena even further, I suggest
would lead to a "royal knot in a proverbial ball of string"

If the utopian situation arises where it may be considered that we know enough about the
honey bee community - then I would endorse investigation with the aim of advancing
"manipulation".
I consider that this is not the case, and we are likely to bite off more than we can
masticate!

I think that I understand why others may wish to push for the addition to knowledge - but
would suggest that unknowns are put in place before hand. Hence allowing for this
technology (gene manipulation), with the time expended upon it to be beneficially used in
the future.

Still observing and expecting to be doing so for the next few decades with the material in
hand.

Peter