This message was originally submitted by [log in to unmask] to the BEE-L list at LISTSERV.ALBANY.EDU. It was edited to remove quotes of previously posted material. ----------------- Original message (ID=93207B57) (128 lines) ------------------ To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [Fwd: re breeding for varroa tolerance (or resistance)] Hello: As a matter of personal policy I do not ordinarily reply to personal attacks emanating out of e-chatrooms except when the accusations are libelous and/or mislead the beekeeping public. I don't participate in chatrooms. The attached was forwarded to me. The following are the true facts. 1. Mr. Harrison has never contacted me to verify his concerns/views or to seek the facts. He has not visited our study site. To my knowledge he has not contacted my collaborators. I have no idea what his purported source of information is. 2. I have never, in my 30+ years of research, treated a single honey bee colony for tracheal mites. 3. Neither I, nor my cooperator, a long time commercial beekeeper, nor has anyone else treated our three test apiaries for varroa since 1994. On rare occasion my cooperator has treated a single test colony in the fall to save it, whereupon it is removed from the study and moved to one of his other ~30 apiaries. Data for these colonies for the year, up to but not following treatment, are included in our tabulations. 4. Our work on varroa tolerance has been published in the American Bee Journal. Our first paper was in the refereed section where it was reviewed by other scientists prior to publication. My collaborating beekeeper is a co-author on these publications and has reviewed them for accuracy and completeness. These publications are available on our home page. 5. Hence, given the above, there were no treatments in mid April. We did sample in early April, 2000. In April, the overall mean level of varroa infestation for all 48 colonies which are distributed among 3 apiaries was 5.2 mites per 100 bees. The range was 0.5 - 14.5 mites per 100 bees per colony. All bees are taken directly from the brood nest. 6. Our mean annual level of infestation has been holding steady since 1996 at 6-7 mites per 100 bees. And, I would reiterate that this is without any form of intervention for mite control. 7. Anyone wishing corroborate these statements should feel free to contact my collaborators. Eric H. Erickson, Ph.D. Dr. Eric H. Erickson fax:520-670-6493 work:520-670-6380 X104 http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov Carl Hayden Bee Research Center [log in to unmask]