Jim was a great guy to work as was his crew at Monsanto. For me it was a real eye opener to see an experiment done at this level of size and expertise. This work represented a very large number of hives. All rear by large scale commercial beekeepers.  Literally thousands of hives operated and monitored over several years.  There was a lot of statistic and spatial work done in this project.

Not stated in the prior remarks is the history of the hives in regard to the past application of varroa treatments and exposure to 'other' agricultural chemicals. < imho confounding variable.

Some of what is suggested in prior bullet points I do not see in my own untreated stock. My own hives in contrast are typically only moved once in their total life span and are exposed to almost no agricultural chemicals.

Thanks for highlighting the primary points and I will look forward to reading Jim article in the ABJ. 

Gene in Central Texas..

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