[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > What has happened to common sense? We all know that foraging bees stray
> into other colonies.
> >We all know that drones are allowed "free" entrance to strange colonies!
> >If we have a "breeding" situation as proposed with this setup, how can
> >we keep mites from parasitizing foraging bees and drones which are not
> >"trapped?"
>snip
>> >
> Comb trapping does not set out to "prevent spread of those mites" but
> instead aims to reduce the level of infestation, and with it, the rate of  spread , down to manageable proportions.  If sensibly practiced it can do> just that, as numerous European beekepers who have been managing varroa > infested colonies for the last decade or more will testify.
> > James Morton
 
Dear Mr. Morton and other fellow beekeepers:
I am not knocking the "comb-trapping" program. My concern is that
working with conditions that permit honey bee mites to leave the colony
in which they are located and be transferred (via drones and foraging
bees) to other colonies which might be Varroa-free is SIMPLY ASKING FOR
TROUBLE.
I became initiated with the Varroa struggle in Europe. If you study the
spread of Varroa mites through the Eastern European countries and then
onto France and the Iberian pennninsula, you will have to agree with me
that relaxed management conditions are responsible for the magnitude of
spread of those mites. I know, I was there! You might claim that
European beekeepers did not know about Varroa. But that wont be a valid
argument, because European beekeepers knew about tracheal mites and what
became known as the Isle of Wight mite disease. I reiterate,
comb-trapping" might be influential in eliminating a number of mites
from the colonies where this practice is employed but it also serves as
a focus of infestation for Varroa-free colonies. And I hope that the
defenders of this "practice" will not argue that spread of the mites is
limited to local conditions because it is not. All you have to do is to
review the history of their travel through Europe when not even the
mighty Alps could contain their progress. My point again is,
ERRADICATION is the best management technique to employ against Varroa
mites.
Regards.
Dr. Pedro Rodriguez
Virginia Beach, USA