John Beck wrote:
>
> As a new beekeeper, I've been very interested in the discussion on parasites.
>
> As I understand it, the feral bee population in the US has been decimated by
> the infestation of mites.  Would it be safe to assume that surviving
> colonies might have built up some resistance?
>
> Has anyone had any experience with this?
>
> John
 
From what I've read, it appears that the feral population is probably
around 10% of pre-mite levels in many areas.  And most of the remaining
10% are probably recent swarms from managed hives that have not yet
succumbed to the mites.  Hopefully there are some pockets of resistant
developing out there, and an article on p.140 of the February '97 ABJ
documents a case in Italy where resistance might be developing. Also,
there have been several studies that suggest that hygenic behavior
contributes to resistance.  P.143 of the same issue of ABJ describes an
experiment that further suggests genetic differences in the ability to
resist varroa.
 
The bottom line is, nobody really knows how this will turn out yet, but
my personal view borrows a line from 'Jurrasic Park': Life will find a
way.
 
I have a related question though.  By introducing managed but not
resistant drones and swarms into the feral population, are we actually
retarding the progress of genetic resistance??
 
Michael Reddell
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http://www.hotcity.com/~mwr