>Odd that no one has yet mentioned that every lost swarm later becomes a
varroa bomb when it collapses.

I've tried to calculate (actually guess) at the number of swarms cast from all commercial colonies in the US each season. I'm sure it varies each year but it must be a real high number even if the swarm percentage is low.  It's easy to speculate, although I have no data to support it, that commercial beekeeping by virtue of size, is likely a major source of unintentional mite bombs and therefore responsible for maintaining a reservoir of varroa that works against our efforts at control. 

It's a very unpopular topic because it offsets the allegations that it's usually neglectful hobby beekeepers that are the mite bomb makers. If we could look past the blame issue,  I think this area would benefit from some research especially if the research could focus on the implications of commercial swarms and how they are linked to varroa as a migratory parasite.  


Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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