> 1. IF we were
> concerned about the ultimate survival of honeybees and factored out losses
> to beekeepers, crops, etc, might be to manage hives without antibiotics,
> and
> other meds, and allow for natural selection to create resistances?

The above is being done  and has been done for years on a small scale.
Success has been seen for survival of bees but what has been found so far
seems to fail when those bees are placed in a commercial migratory setting.
In holding yards of thousands of hives.

My years of study of the Russian/Russian bee found for the best results the
Russian bee needs to be kept in yards of other Russian bees. Varroa
tolerance drops when Italians & Russian bees are kept in yards together.
Hence *in my opinion* placing Russian/Russian bees in huge holding yards in
California with Italian bees might not be the best plan unless one plans to
treat for mites etc.

I might add that Russian bees are being reported as as susceptible to nosema
ceranae as any other race (source a Russian breeder).

I use the Russian bee in this discussion as those are the bees which seem to
be the closest to being able to survive untreated for the longest period of
time.

> 5. One of the things I have heard about CCD is that robbers do not enter
> the
> hive for days after the flight of the workers.

*In my opinion* the above aspect of CCD has been overblown from the start. I
have discussed CCD since the start with the main commercial beekeepers
involved and those beekeepers have always played down the symptom as
possibly explained by time of year, light flow in area or hives not strong
enough to rob. I realize my statement will bring a roar from researchers but
what I was told.

What I have seen and been told was most CCD hives are simply empty. No bees
in hive or on hive floor nor out in front. The next most common is a hive
which consists of a small bunch of bees and a queen ( but not huge amount of
brood).  In those beeks opinion the hive appeared strong before collapse but
was in fact* low on brood*. The problem *in their opinion* seemed to have
started in the nursery of the brood nest then ended with the disappearance
of the work force.

Many of the beeks I speak with care less about BEE-L or Beesource and are
asking my opinion hopefully to try and figure out what is going on in their
hives. I think its important for me to relay what I hear which may not be
what those involved with CCD are saying.

Most commercial beekeepers I speak with are surviving by constant splitting
and running the most prolific bee they can get their hands on. David Mendes
said at the ABF meeting he was seeing 50% and up losses each year and has
only been able to survive by constant splitting.

One of my hypothesis I share with these guys:
Queens are being CCD effected and either dying or being superseded
constantly. Until now queens always seemed unaffected by most disease
issues. Vacant hives can be explained by queelessness on a large scale and
the bees drifting to other queenright hives in the yard OR dying from the
same issue which dispatched the queen.

Splitting helps solve the above as although the split bees might carry the
problem the new young queen is supposedly free of the problem the old hive
had and can turn the issue around by cranking out 2-3000 eggs a day. Both
making splits and using package bees has been a big help in the survival of
commercial beekeeping.

bob

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