Hello All,

> The bees that survived the outbreak were all of Italian origin.

Every time I read about Brother Adam and his first revelation (as posted by
Peter) I wonder what Brother Adams life might have been like had the first
survivors in his bees been Amm .

His first observation only included a small number of bees of both races and
obviously from different queen sources. Brother Adams decision to look away
from Amm was based strictly on the survivor aspect (which is what I would do
starting out!).

From the year I spent on the Irish Beekeeping list I learned many things
about the way Brother Adam is spoke about in England. They always treat
Brother Adam with the respect due but on the internet do voice their
opinions.

 Many English beekeepers ( some on this list) feel Brother Adam was too
quick to toss the original Amm race in the trash can!

Brother Adam has always been a hero of mine but I understand the place Amm
lovers are coming from. Maybe one of these days I can travel to England and
look at some of these bees today as the last time I looked at Amm was in
1978 I think when I got a couple hives in an very small operation I bought
out from a beekeepers widow. He was around 80 years old when he died and I
expect he had kept the Amm around for old times sake  ( or into pain?).
Those bees kind of reminded me of an x wife by always trying to find a way
to get at me and ruin my day. Could never go around those bees with loose
pant legs or tennis shoes. Very quick to sting.

Back to Peters question:

Again all beekeeping is local.

I have had a microscope and jewelers 16 power hand scope and have done
Tracheal mite (TM) tests for myself and at times others for MANY years. As a
general rule I have found the Italian production queens I use are more
susceptible to TM than both the Carniolans and especially the Russian bee.
Perhaps the reason here is because of Sue Cobey's breeding program with the
NWC ( widespread influence in U.S. Carniolans) and the Russian bee better
able to handle the virus problems after years of exposure to both mites.
Don't know. Only can report what I see.

Regardless of the percent of infestations (which is the percent of the
sample which tested positive for TM )you find or the bee lab sends back to
you the figure they don't send back is the figure I look at with the
microscope.

After all as many as 200 TM have been found in a single bee trachea before I
once read in a bee book.

For certain TM tolerance could be found in the Italian bee but our U.S.queen
producers only respond to TM selection (for the most part) when asked to do
so by their queen buyers. Most commercial beekeepers want all these traits
in their queens but are not willing to pay for the queen producers trouble.

I certainly respect Dee Lusby, Joe Waggle & Scot McPherson's choice to not
use any type of treatment in the their hives. Hopefully they can understand
why others choose to travel the IPM road.

Cleaning deadouts ( other than winter kill) is a hassle which I do not care
for. Some winter kill provides the boxes with honey & pollen for spring
splits and in Missouri the boxes are not bothered by moths etc. "Dinks" I do
not winter provide the rest.

To the commercial beekeeper random testing and treating with menthol/canola
towels ( legal treatment) gives positive control over TM. Control TM and you
control the virus.

Gambling that your bees will not have an infestation of TM based solely on
the fact some selection for TM tolerance has been done can be a slippery
slope.

The common menthol/canola oil treatment I think will be dropped for those
using a formic acid (FA)treatment once a year as FA does a good job
controlling TM( or so the maker says). Menthol has stood the test of time
and has never caused contamination problems as dissipates quickly. Keep in a
freezer or will dissipate before you can use it in my opinion.

. Right now I am using a spring treatment of Miteaway 2 (
already done) and will check for TM in fall. I believe the FA treatment will
make the need for other TM control not needed but remains to be seen.

In beekeeping you need a system ( but a flexible system). I sit here with
all my spring work none such as making sure all hives are queenright, no
laying workers, all have got enough feed,pollen patties on, moved out of
holding yard on to locations for honey flow (adjusted later if needed).
Spring treatments completed.

Others in our club are just now looking into their bee hives. When they are
still making splits (mine done except for the small cell test) and feeding I
will be putting supers on.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


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