Hello Peter, Karen and All,

Simple selection:
>.If  one selects breeders from hives with low mite counts, this trait
> should be intensified

I really believed in the late 1980's that simple selection would work,
varroa  tolerant bees could be found in all populations and the process
could be completed within a few years. *Grandpa* beekeeper said simple
selection would work.

Dr. Shiminuki figured around  20 years. I believe now Dr. Shiminuki was
correct in his hypothesis.

Varroa populations grow and   fall for many different reasons other than the
bees themselves was what I found to be true. Varroa always infested the
strongest of the hives first. Was the strongest less tolerant than the
weakest I pondered?  The strongest hives had the highest varroa loads so
those  were not used but when a weak (low varroa load) hive was  fed
continually the varroa load increased right away  .. The lowest varroa loads
were always  the  weakest and low production hives.

Dr. Harbo realized the same  thing and began to look closer at varroa
reproduction. Without Dr. Harbo's discovery I would be still trying to
select  somehow from a strong  hive with a slightly lower mite load than the
strong hive next to it.

To select properly I would need  accurate information on the amount of brood
(in all stages) and the population of the hive (possible but time consuming)
.

 Many breeders found the daughters of those  "simple selection" queens
showed zero tolerance to varroa .

The whole process was  not simple as grandpa said and  quite confusing as
Peter pointed out. Dr. Shiminuki was correct in his 20 year prediction for
simple selection in my opinion without Dr. Harbo's research.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison