--- On Thu, 1/14/10, Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

The "live and let die" method was tried for a few
> years but was a
> total failure. Dr. Harbo then decided to discover why and
> did.
> 
> Now after 20 years of living with varroa and the
> introduction of varroa
> tolerant stock from Russia and the bee labs etc...." 

Hello,

This link from the ARS that I have provided below which states that the Russian bees evolved resistance because 'natural selection may have favored the most resistant bees'.  Isn't natural selection the perfect example of 'live and let die'?

The fact that beekeepers and breeders in the USA needed to rely on 'natural selection' to provide us with a varroa tolerant stock, is proof that the "live and let die" worked in Russian bees from the Primorsky region.  

In your quote you say <<< "live and let die" method >>.  
The inclusion of the word 'method' is worth noting.
In light of what I have stated above...

Perhaps it is the 'method' the beekeepers and breeders used to implement 'live and let die' which failed, and not 'live and let die'.  

IMO, the blaming of 'live and let die' for failing, is perhaps a failing in its self, indicating a failing of one to distribute blame.  

"The bees evolved in a mite-infested region in far eastern Russia. Because of pressure from mites over time, natural selection may have favored the most resistant bees." 
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may98/sci0598.htm 

Best Wishes,
Joe

Oh, "busy bee," exalted so. We'd work like you, we vow.
If we could loaf six months or so, As you are loafing now.
-Washington Post - January 15, 1896
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/


      

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