>>I guess someone (even Dr. Seeley himself) could repeat Seeley's test(s) using tree-hollow "bee gums"... People like Dennis Murray (spelling?) have shown that bees transfered to TB hives survived mites w/o treatments. The best explanation was that the smaller cell size at the bottom of the naturally built combs was smaller somehow allowing the bees to rid themselves of most of the mites in the late season. The cell size from the middle of the feral combs I've measured has been consistently just under 5,0 mm. No doubt, feral colonies produce less brood and, by extension, fewer mites. These factors may be key to their survivor. As to many, feral to me means living in unmanaged conditions regardless of origin. I have yet to find a marked queen in a feral colony. Interestingly enough, the queen I obtained from a feral colony a month ago, is the longest queen that I have ever seen... I admire the vigor of the feral bees. Do they transfer well into managed colonies? Yes. Can they survive w/o treatment in managed colonies? I have not seen that - although one OA treatment in the fall makes mites a non-issue. Then again, my Pierco cells don't match the natural comb and in my hives they produce very large populations (a lot of potential for a lot of mites). Waldemar ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************