I don't think anyone is suggesting all bee behavior is explained by this - bees are highly intelligent and can learn all sorts of weird things about manmade obj

I don't think anyone is suggesting all bee behavior is explained by this - bees are highly intelligent and can learn all sorts of weird things about manmade objects, which can't possibly be explained by genetics (except that genetics built a powerful "algorithm"). In nature older bees are more effective workers because they spend their lives learning about the environment, including the hive itself. What is explained by genetics is why honeybee workers immediately start working for the colony, rather than having an "adolescence" where non-larval bees watch older workers for an extended period, or why honeybee workers almost never wander out of the hive and try to live on their own. That side is clearly somewhat instinctual and must have at a genetic or epigenetic component.