> Peter you have your area of expertise ( bee inspection in New York?) and I
have mine. I was in Florida when the first varroa find was made. I have
first hand knowledge on the subject of the way package bees are made up.

> This may be new news to you but not to commercial beekeepers which sell bulk
bees. 

My area of expertise is not bee inspection in NY, though I have done that. I worked in California for almost twenty years for probably a dozen different beekeepers, including one of the largest packaged bee shipper in the world at the time. I don't know why folks assume they are the only ones with experience without bothering even to look into it. 

Anyway, my main point was that packaged bees are not the only way diseases are spread, and there is certainly no proof that they are the main vector of disease. In fact, some states allow only packaged bees in, because they are less likely to contain pests than *bees on combs*. 

I stick to my original statement which is that diseases are vectored more often by the sale of nucs and whole outfits than by packages. Packages can be fumigated and fed medicated syrup and installed on new equipment. Compare that to the purchase of used equipment which is liable to contain any and everything. 

Which would you expect to be more likely to have trouble in it, a new hive with fresh packaged bees or a hive somebody bought off a truck coming back from California. My $.02. 

PLB

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