Hello,

Erik Osterlund asked me if I would post his letter as
he is not a subscribed member.  Would be nice to have
more detail about the study as Erik mentions to help
determine the specifics on how the test was done.  I
don't know if the manuscript is available on the
internet, maybe the title would be a start or if
anyone can obtain the manuscript that would be great! 
   

---------->

Joe wrote:
....To summarize,  low mite levels have limited value
> >unless accompanied by honey production and over all
> >colony performance.

Erik Writes:
 
> Yes, honey production should always be a selection
> factor, at least for
> beekeepers making a living of their bees.
> 
> Also I would like to put up a finger of caution
> here. Is the method of
> investigation described? I've learned that mostly
> control and test groups
> are put too close together in the same apiary. AS
> far a distance as 200
> meters may sometimes be too close, but bigger
> distance will make it
> difficult to call the two groups to be in the same
> apiary.) Also a good
> question is if the two groups were the only bees in
> the apiary or if
> unselected bee colonies were present. Another good
> question is how many
> colonies in each grooup, and if it was a 'neutral'
> group, how big that was.
> Another factor would be the matings of the queens.
> If you make a too close
> inbreeding and if the drones come from too few bee
> colonies, the
> performance of the resulting colony will show
> inbreeding factors that may
> interfere with what you are measureing.
> As bees drift a lot, all the time, of different
> reasons, you will get
> non-controlled mixes of bees in every colony. And
> what you are planning for
> with your control colonies will not be as you 
> planned.
> So in a test like this, are you really measureing
> what you think you are doing?
> (read for example in 'The Hive and the Honey Bee'
> (Drifting, Robbing),
> 1992, pages 650-654)
> 
> Erik
> 
> 
>


		
__________________________________________ 
Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. 
Just $16.99/mo. or less. 
dsl.yahoo.com 

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---