Got it, Kevin.

This last fall, Marla Spivak (http://www.macfound.org/fellows/43/) came to
Boise and gave some excellent presentations at the Idaho Honey Industry
Association annual meeting.  One of the messages that she passed on that
really struck home for us hobbyists/sideliners went something like this:
If you don't treat for mites, that's perfectly fine.
In Year One, the bees will likely be able to out-compete the mites and you
might even make some honey.
Year Two will likely be a little bit iffy - your bees might survive and
they might not.  Your chances of making a surplus of honey will be slim.
In Year Three, if you do not treat, your bees will be dead.
She went on to say that at this point, one can simply buy some more bees,
start a swarm, etc. and go back through the cycle.
Our impression was that her's was a pretty blunt and a pretty sobering
message.
Here's wishing you luck on finding that bee that survives the mite.
Steve




On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 6:47 PM, Kevin Gross <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> thanks steve.
>
> as stated, no treatments were applied.
>

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