On 23/03/2015 9:13 AM, Peter Loring Borst wrote:
> Hi Randy
> Then we agree to disagree. However, I have a lot of support for this idea, which I have assembled in the course of researching honey bee genetics. For example,
>
> Humans have been keeping honey bees, Apis mellifera,
> in artificial hives for over 7000 years. Long enough, one
> might imagine, for some genetic changes to have occurred
> in domestic bees that would distinguish them from their
> wild ancestors. ...Snip
BENJAMIN P. OLDROYD Molecular Ecology (2012) 21, 4409–4411

Whilst my cow may mate with my neighbours bull, it has no oportunity to 
mate with a wild or feral one.  Whilst there has been some work here to 
show that the feral bees are more or less a self replicating group, it 
is also true that mating for most queens heading hives at any given time 
is uncontrolled.  Not only that, they also mate numerous times.  So only 
traits that effect both groups are likely to be selected for or against 
with any strength.  I see there is no mention of tracheal mite having 
jumped species so the assumption could be made that there was some 
residual resistance in the population.

Geoff Manning

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