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Date: | Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:42:26 -0400 |
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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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