> I was comforted as  I haven't treated for varroa in some 6 years as many 
> of you know. Most of those around me have as far as I know.

I'm curious if you ever measure varroa in your hives?  I'd be curious to 
know what kind of counts your hives carry without having problems.

I understand that you have been selecting stock and gather that is part of 
the reason you are successful, but I was influenced by all the talk of not 
treating on some venues and thought that 1.) since I have been acquiring 
stock which is supposedly somewhat varroa tolerant, and 2.) since I have 
been splitting drastically, that I should be able to get away with just an 
oxalic drizzle each fall.

Last year I did, and levels were reasonably low, but I just did some counts 
yesterday and was quite shocked to see a count over 20% in one hive and 
levels over 10% in two others.  I'm also seeing some PMS.  At that point I 
quit testing and decided to get some strips.

I had a similar experience with not treating for AFB.  Even if hives did not 
break down, I was seeing spotty patterns.  A touch of medication changed 
that in a heartbeat. 

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