This issue of sustainability has been brought up again and again. What
is generally overlooked is that almost everybody is for
sustainability; only a few of us go into an endeavor hoping to make a
quick buck and get out before the whole thing collapses. We want to
succeed, and into the foreseeable future. The future, of course, is
anything but foreseeable, and hence the problem. However, it is worth
examining what a sustainable beekeeping system would consist of
(instead of pointing fingers at the bad guys). To start, one would
want colonies that required less attention than they seem to do now.
For example:

> Overall, Russian honey bees regulate the growth of varroa populations. Russian honey bees are resource-responsive. Russian colonies build large populations in spring when pollen becomes available. Consequently, their honey production is comparable.   However, unlike Italian colonies they either slow down or completely stop brood production in response to a lack of nectar flow (Tubbs et al. 2003). This resource sensitivity may contribute to Russian honey bees' varroa resistance.

> Also, Russian honey bees have many more injured and dead mites on the bottom boards of their hives, suggesting that they have a greater tendency to groom mites from their nests and nest mates (Rinderer et al. 2001). In contrast, susceptible Italian bees continue with their brood production under the same circumstances. Extended brood production offers a constant supply of hosts for mite reproduction. Ritter (1984) reported a 10-fold increase in mite population in southwestern Germany where the brood-rearing period is longer than in southeastern France (as cited by Fries et al. 1991).

From:
Growth of Varroa destructor Populations in Russian Honey Bee Colonies
LILIA I. DE GUZMAN, THOMAS E. RINDERER, AND AMANDA M. FRAKE
ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Vol. 100, no. 2

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************