<Following the advent of acarine and varroa mites in North America,
<are there any data on the survival of wild beehives?  If commercial
<the hives die, then what is the status of (untreated) wild hives?  A
<few months ago a person reported from a coastal area south of San
<Francisco that honey bees were virtually absent from a wilderness
<walk where a few years ago they had been abundant.
<If wild honey bees have been markedly reduced, would not the
<beneficial consequences for native bees etc. be major?  Yet there are
<<reports that some bees and wasps have been fewer this summer.
<Has anyone been counting wild hives and bee numbers?
 
<Barry J Donovan
 
Robert Page from University of California at Davis told me that the population
of wild bees in California has been considerably reduced by the mites.  Surveys
have been conducted but I do not know if Robert Page conducted them himself.  He
was trying to evaluate the population of european drones from wild colonies in
the context of an anti-AHB strategy.  Bee-liners from U. of California must know
more about these surveys.
 
Jean-Pierre Chapleau
queen breeder,
Quebec, Canada