I am sorry to be so late on replying to several comments about feral
colonies and varroa mites, but they came in too thick and fast at the
time.  Also, I had recently returned from the California Beekeepers
Convention and had not yet caught up with all the postings.


Joe Waggle asked (15 November):

Is the below reference found in the abstract available
for reading?

ABSTRACT:
Wenner, A.M. and R.W. Thorp. 2002. Collapse and
resurgence of feral colonies after Varroa arrival.

"Some individuals have now begun to exploit the
potential that feral colonies provide. (By feral, I
include managed colonies in remote areas that have had
no treatment against varroa mites.)"

***********

    That reference is not online, but I can photocopy and mail a reprint
to anyone interested who provides a mailing address.

***********

Isis Glass asked (15 November):

But what surprises me in all these discussions is the use of terms like
"isolated" and "remote" without any effort or concern about defining
them.
Given that queens can fly up to ten miles to mate, how can one be
certain
that *any* bees are "remote" -- particularly if the term isn't even
defined?

    Anyone who goes to a standard atlas road map of Southern California
can see that a vast area (perhaps 30 miles X 100 miles) of national
forest and wilderness area exists northeast of Santa Barbara.  Due to
high fire danger, beekeepers are not allowed in that back country.  The
bee colonies back there are certainly isolated from managed colonies.
My beekeeper friend, Paul Cronshaw, regularly takes Boy Scout trips
into that region and has reported an abundance of honey bees that have
obviously survived the varroa mite infestation.  Surely many such areas
exist throughout the U.S.

***********

Waldemar asked (15 November):

Is there a plan for systematic evaluation of feral bees for mite
resistance?  If yes, can you share the locations of the ferals being
considered for evaluation?     This should be a very exciting
undertaking!

    Waldemar is correct.  In fact, that is what the USDA and/or
beekeeping groups should have done when it first became that varroa
would become a major threat to the industry.  If I were a dictator
(e.g., head of the USDA), I would have established maybe two dozen
apiaries in different parts of the U.S.A., preferably adjacent to vast
areas that had no beekeeping operations — and then let the most
susceptible colonies perish.  That is, in fact, what John Kefuss has
suggested all along — the Bond Technique, followed by the BAT technique
(Bond Accelerated Techique).  The latter involves deliberately
providing a large varroa mite load on colonies that seem to be
resistant to the mites — and then breed from those survivors.

    Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no plan exists for exploiting feral
colonies that have survived varroa infestation.

***********

Ron van Mierlo from Sweden (15 November) corrected me:

I read this input and have to respond since it is not true about the
claim
that Scandinavian beekeepers are not allowed to use any chemicals in
their colonies. I can't speak for the other countries, but it is for
instance
allowed to use Apistan if the beekeeper in question has obtained a
licence,
(he will have to take a certain course in order to get the licence and
some
years experience in beekeeping ara presumed too). Also, the use of
oxalic
acid is completely free. So if you call oxalic acid and Apistan
chemicals then
yes, they do use chemicals in Sweden (not me though, none of them!)

    I am sorry for that error.  Hans-Otto Johnsen had written: "In
Norway where I live you are not allowed to use what is called
pesticides against pests."

    My bias (of Scandinavian descent, both Norwegian and Swedish)
colored my memory; perhaps I inadvertently wished all Scandinavians to
be so astute.

***********

On Nov 14, 2005, at 3:59 PM, John Edwards earlier wrote (in part):

> I fail to understand why this same view (that all ferals are strays)
> keeps coming up, at least since I have been online (about 1990).

    John's statement matches my own bias, as evident in my above
statement:  "(By feral, I
include managed colonies in remote areas that have had no treatment
against varroa mites.)"  Again, some Sandinavians have apparently had
some success with "Elgon" bees, a cross between the east African
mountain bee (Apis mellifera monticola) and the Buckfast bee.  I see no
distinction between "managed" colonies that have had no chemical
treatment (with open mating) and feral colonies in that same area.

    I hope the above lengthy discourse properly address the points
raised.

                                                                        Adrian

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