> Bravo, Peter. You've just eloquently synopsized why mite treatment--at this point in history--is so important.

Thanks for saying that. I should add that I feel that the movement to conserve and preserve the honey bee is also important. It's harder to gain traction for it here in the Americas where it's not native, but all the same I believe we should consider conservation of honey bee phenotypes even here. 

However, how one would go about it, I am not certain. Tom Seeley has been setting up single story hives and allowing them to live out their existence without management. I would like to do a similar thing but I hate to think of those big beautiful swarms heading to the woods. I suppose one could have tons of bait hives and attempt to catch as many as possible.

By the way, I keep bees for fun. There's an old saying that someone who can make $1000 from bees could easily make $2000 doing almost anything else. And if I come off as condescending, I sincerely apologize. I could say that people ought not to read too much into emails regarding their intent -- but they do -- and that's what we have to live with. 

PLB

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