On Wed, 13 Mar 1996 21:03:29 -0500, Vince Coppola wrote:
 
>Does anyone have any info on the Carniolans in Austria that are reported
>to have grooming ability and chew the legs of varroas? I think the
>breeders name is Wallner.
 
Friends,
In Czech Republic similar breeding program has been conducted at Bee Res.
Inst. at Doll near Prague ( 252 66 Libcice n.Vlt., CZ). As I am informed
the results obtained are promising but still not at the level enabling
the formation of genetically stable lines.
 
In my hobby Carniolan apiary I found 4 fold less Varroa mites in the
progeny colonies of one queen in comparison to the rest of the apiary in
1994 (the mother colony had less than 10 individuals, the daughters'
colonies less than 100 with one exception, and the rest colonies more
than 400 mites), but in 1995 there was no significant relation in the
above shown tendency. So you can imagine how I was disappointed in
my expectations. I am mentioning this observation just to show (the
known fact) that making lines with fixed behavior may not be so easy.
But anyway it is good to know the amount of mites which developed in
individual colonies during the season. This can be done by the fumigative
treatment methods with tar paper plates inserted in the higher bottom
boards where dead mites can accumulate during the night following the
fumigation.
Wishing you prosperous building up season,
Vladimir Ptacek
 
P.s.: Yesterday about 15 cm of fresh snow felt down having raised the
      total level to 40 cm in my apiary (1 - 2 m layer in mountains)
      Bess didn't fly from mid November. Hard winter in the heart of
      Europe.
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