>In my experience purchased package bees carry varroa.  Some have lots
of it.  Oxalic acid treatment
> for varroa is recommended for broodless bees.

Actually the break in the brooding cycle kills most of the varroa. By
the time the colony has increased brooding to sustain a varroa
population, most of the varroa are gone and it will take 2 years or more
for the varroa to gain a foothold again. Even if you treat the bees and
kill ALL varroa in the package first, straying drones will introduce
varroa back into the hives at a normal pace and you will see varroa in
your hives at the same pace as the untreated packages. You cannot
eliminate varroa with treatments, and all you will do is weaken your
stock both in the short term and in the long term.

Scot Mc Pherson
Bradenton Bees
http://beewiki.linuxfromscratch.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/OrganicBeekeepers/
mailto:[log in to unmask]


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