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Subject:
From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:41:01 -0500
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http://tinyurl.com/6gqjgx
or
http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/09/uk-professor-hopes-modified-bee-genes-
can-prevent-colony-collapse-disorder/

"He hopes to reverse the decline of the honeybee 
by breeding cleaner bees to protect hives from 
harmful diseases. The cleaner bee is a breed of 
worker bee that will be genetically programmed 
to keep hives clean. They will be responsible for 
removing pupae and larvae from the hives if they 
are dead or dying.

Currently these cleaner bees only exist in very 
small numbers. The hygienic bee was first observed 
in the 1930s, but at most only 10-percent of a hive 
has bees with this gene."

I'm confused by the entire premise, as I thought that
we had several types of more hygienic bees already,
and could produce them reliably with normal breeding
strategies.

On the bright side, the GM bees could handle pollination 
the GM crops... no, never mind - that would be stupid.   :)

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