>
> >I find that so hard to believe.


I don't know why it is Joe.  I recently wrote about two Corn Belt
beekeepers who use no miticides with great success, and spoken with a
number of others across the country.

On the other hand, I have a number of bee breeders send me queen stock for
testing.  I put them in nucs, and start control nucs side by side with my
own queens.  The nucs with introduced queens are often overwhelmed by mites
within a few to several months.

But I'm certainly not giving up.  I currently run two yards of pure bred
Russians (which generally keep mites at relatively low levels) and just
yesterday checked on the daughters that I recently grafted off an i.i. VSH
breeder, which I will use as drone mothers next spring.

We don't make much honey in my area, so my living depends upon me having
strong hives on Feb 15.  This may an earlier start than in your area, so
perhaps it's the longer broodrearing period, among other things.

I'd be happy to purchase a few queens from you next spring and run them in
my yards and let you know what happens!

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm