Beekeepers:

There are some rather lofty claims being made for downsizing to a smaller
bee by people who have not yet even begun downsizing to the 4.9er bee.
Maybe they are true; maybe they aren’t always.  From a personal point of
view, I think it’s worth looking into.

>Microbes and mites, assisted by us, however inadvertently, or
independently, WILL evolve to meet the new challenge they face, let alone
the mutation and variation of the super stock itself in due time. Simply
put, the struggle on both ends (beekeepers' and mites') is never-ending;...
>Imagine how hard we will fight if we have to fight for the survival of our
own species. So will the microbes and mites.

Humdinger gave a couple of very good opinions (in my opinion!)

Didn’t AFB become much more widespread with the advent of the large
commercial beekeeping operations? We talk about getting back to “natural”
ways of beekeeping. But is it “natural” to keep hundreds or even tens of
hives in close proximity to one another? It seems to me that we have simply
provided a very unique dining experience to a predator (whether it is the
disease organism Paenibacillus larvae or Varroa destructor)  in the
host/predator relationship. Maybe by downsizing bees, we have actually
tricked the predator for awhile. But, how long will it take before the
predator adapts to its new host? When it does won’t it simply end up right
back at the smorgasbord?

Regards,
Dick