"But this isn't going to happen by millions of hobby beekeepers buying package bees each season and then allowing them to die from the varroa/virus complex."

Very true.  I have mentoring experience with folks who could not even identify a drone when they got their first colony.  I suggest that ALL OF YOU who sell bees demand that your purchasers show proof that they have attended a beginning beekeeper's training class, that they have obtained a mentor, and that they report to you on how their package/nuc performed.  It would be good for your business in the long run, and good for all of the rest of us beekeepers too.

I would not buy a cow (even though I have worked on/off at the Cornell Veterinary College for over 30 years) without learning what to do with it.  And I haven't.


Christina



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