To get the best bee for an area you need high numbers of colonies which 
nature may not provide. Places like Alaska come to mind.

The study really only says that the more drones the better number of 
characteristics and distribution of traits. With large numbers of 
colonies you get a "buffer" against change. It is not that you get some 
sudden change in the character of the bee, but you get survivors from 
bees that are already there. The genetic makeup of a diverse population 
does that with about every species.

Where I am, the population of bees is small because of Varroa. So bees 
in this area might be selected for specific conditions but then die out 
quickly with a change from those conditions. All because there are not 
enough of them to have the genetic diversity to survive.

There is not usually a change in the DNA of a species that allows a 
species to survive, but the expression of genes within that species. 
Major genetic change usually leads to a new species that does not revert 
back.

Mites are a case in point. If you leave Apistan resistant Varroa alone 
for a number of years they revert to the non-resistant mite. There is a 
stable (a bad word) mite that gains an advantage not being resistant 
unless that resistance is necessary. Same with bees. Change the pressure 
and they will revert to what worked best in the past.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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