> >The problem is the adaptations the bees
> develop are not ones we as beekeepers like or can handle.


Charles, I've personally kept colonies that were gentle, extremely
productive, and that kept mites to nearly undetectable levels.  That real
life observation gives me hope.

Pete, I'm in agreement with you re the means by which A ceranae fights
varroa, as well as how the Primorski bees do.  Some of their methods are
not amendable to what we expect from commercial bees.  However, some are,
so I do not feel that this quest is insurmountable.

>When beekeepers started keeping cerana and mellifera together varroa
 quickly found mellifera the prefered host.

Not quite true Bob.  It took many years before the "Eve" mite mutated to be
able to successfully reproduce on A. mellifera.

Charlie, you're absolutely right--nature uses the Bond method, but it can
work very quickly.  The risk is that it may fail, and the host go extinct
(again, Santa Cruz Island).  If we were all to use it, all of us would have
gone out of business when 99% of our colonies died.  Hence, modifications
of the Bond method, which are more in line with general methods of
selective breeding.

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

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