Hello Allen and Bee-Lers,
 
Allen Dick wrote:
 
> At any rate, I wonder, in the cases of both Vince and David, what controls
> have been used to verify that the reason for mite decline is actually
> related to the breeding?  Mites seem to have their cycles and the levels
> David reports seems consistent with what we are obtaining buying queens
> from wherever they are available and cheap.
 
        That's a good question. Actually the controls for our experiments are
just what one would expect, ordinary colonies, as identical to the
colonies being evaluated as is practical, except for the queen. As I've
mentioned before, the results have been very satisfactory.
        I'm glad you have not had high levels of tracheal mites. You are
blessed indeed. Those of us not so fortunate have had some pretty tough
years. In my area more than half, closer to two thirds, of the
beekeepers were wiped out in the late 80's and early 90's. Back then few
were taking any precautions against the tracheal mite. The advice from
the "experts" was that tracheal mites were not a threat of economic
significance. Those who began to treat were able to turn things around,
most who did not are no longer beekeepers.