It would seem that our decisions to treat, or not to treat for mites, AFB,
or whatever, and our ideas about breeding for traits, rest on our faith or
lack thereof, in our ability to do a good job when we interfere with the
natural  events.  I feel drawn to both sides of the discussion.

Clearly, in choosing stock with which to requeen a colony, we interfere,
even if the stock be feral in origin.  Yet which of us would not choose
stock from a resistant, gentle, non-swarmy, productive and hardy colony,
regardless of origin, with which to replace the failing queen of a less than
desirable colony? In principle the merit of letting the latter colony die is
clear to me, until I am tempted to preserve at least that colony's
investment in strength and life, arrogantly presuming to replace that single
bee that shall entirely change the genetic future of that colony within a
few weeks or months.  And which of us would challenge our colonies with AFB
to discover our resistant stock, if any?

We could interminably debate the merits of natural selection versus our
interference.  Two considerations make that debate moot for me.  The first
is the lack of proof of superiority of one method.  For example, AFB being
known long before the advent of antibiotics, was thus not spawned by them.
It persists despite modern measures, not being eradicated by them.  The
second consideration is my personal fault or weakness in not being
sufficiently intrepid to follow the totally natural course.

I must compromise.  Firstly, I wish to give the bees the best opportunity to
be be productive by diligence in meeting their needs.  A trite idea, but
lack of diligence is all too common.  Simple measures like good location,
protection from extreme elements, and provision of good ventilation
admittedly facilitate survival of less than perfect stock, but less than
perfect stock may possess badly needed genetic traits if we ever learn what
to breed.  Another truism is the need for good record keeping, often cited
as an aid in selecting our stock. It may also may greatly help us to
accommodate our less than perfect stock, all part of giving the bees the
best opportunity to be productive.  Perhaps it is ultimately wrong to
medicate, and I'm trying to learn how to use natural controls effectively,
but I simply cannot allow mites suck my bees' blood.

In conclusion, I cannot determine whether big decisions like deciding on a
course of treatment or little actions like often cleansing one's hive tool
are most important.  Perhaps both?

Bill Morong