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Randy posted
I mark the best
>
>> honey producers for observation and use as potential breeders but have
>> noticed very few survive the summer. No data, just observation.
>>
>
> Ditto here! For a number of years. Curious, huh? I'm wondering how much
> is due to varroa buildup in the strongest colonies, and how much due to
> other intrinsic factors.
>
This debate has been interesting and has rekindled thoughts and observations
of my own from many years ago.
In the days when AFB was a continuing problem, it was a frequent observation
that the strongest hives and best producers would be the first in the apiary
to fall victim, and this would often be a post harvest observation.
Many other beeks here observed the same phenomenon such that it became
accepted fact. The generally accepted explanation was that the strongest
colonies would be the first to rob and therefore the first to pick up
disease.
When I started selecting breeders based on hygienic behaviour, I was
surprised to find that these top producers displayed no hygienic behaviour
at all. When I asked Marla Spivak about this she expressed the opinion that
the top producers should have been the the most hygienic, since the
healthiest hives were always the strongest and therefore produced more. A
conundrum indeed!
But I opted for selecting the most hygienic colonies as breeders, and have
never regreted it. AFB is for me now, a non-event.
To reference Randy's observation, since varroa is not present here, it was
obviously the "other intrinsic factors" responsible. In our case hygienic
behaviour, or more correctly, lack of it, that was responsible. Is it
possibly the same there? Easy to test using the pin-prick method.
PeterD
in Western Australia, a world away from California, but with so many things
in common
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