RE: > I submit that the honey bee is more like the cat, that it merely tolerates our activities and goes about its business essentially unchanged by us.

What I am trying to distinguish between is an animal whose behavior has been altered by humans (like dogs) and one which has been selected (like cats). Obviously, there are differences between wild type bees and the ones we use in our operations. But I submit this is not the result of breeding in the sense of creating new breeds but a result of selection in the sense of selecting from existing strains.

It may be a subtle distinction but I believe it is an important one. Whether or not the honey bee can actually have its behavior manipulated hinges on it. All evolution and all breeding is constrained. Some species respond to the hand of mankind and some do not. It is not a given, hence the number of domesticated species is very small compared to actual number of existing and ancient species avaialble.

RE: > Pete, do you not remember the old hot European bees in Calif back in the day?  Long before AHB.  They were nearly as defensive as a hot Africanized colony.

I have encountered the European black bee (or something very much like it) here in NYS. I thought they seemed potentially Africanized but they relented when I went behind a nearby hedgerow. This summer I encountered a colony that had all the hallmarks of African bees. They attacked me before I opened the hive and followed me hundreds of yards. 

Pete
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