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Subject:
From:
Aaron Morris <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 21 Apr 2000 10:18:57 -0400
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This message was  originally submitted by [log in to unmask]  to the
BEE-L
list  at LISTSERV.ALBANY.EDU.  It was edited to remove quotes of previously
posted material.

----------------- Original message (ID=93207B57) (128 lines)
------------------

To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Fwd: re breeding for varroa tolerance (or resistance)]

Hello:
    As a matter of personal policy I do not ordinarily reply to personal
attacks
emanating out of e-chatrooms except when the accusations are libelous and/or
mislead the beekeeping public.  I don't participate in chatrooms.  The
attached
was forwarded to me.  The following are the true facts.
    1.  Mr. Harrison has never contacted me to verify his concerns/views or
to
seek the facts.  He has not visited our study site.  To my knowledge he has
not
contacted my collaborators.  I have no idea what  his purported source of
information is.

    2.  I have never, in my 30+ years of research, treated a single honey
bee
colony for tracheal mites.

    3.  Neither I, nor my cooperator, a long time commercial beekeeper, nor
has
anyone else  treated our three test apiaries for varroa since 1994.  On rare
occasion my cooperator has treated a single test colony in the fall to save
it,
whereupon it is removed from the study and moved to one of his other ~30
apiaries.  Data for these colonies for the year, up to but not following
treatment, are included in our tabulations.

    4.  Our work on varroa tolerance has been published in the American Bee
Journal.  Our first paper was in the refereed section where it was reviewed
by
other scientists prior to publication.  My collaborating beekeeper is a
co-author on these publications and has reviewed them for accuracy and
completeness.  These publications are available on our home page.

    5.  Hence, given the above, there were no treatments in mid April.  We
did
sample in early April, 2000.  In April, the overall mean level of varroa
infestation for all 48 colonies which are distributed among 3 apiaries was
5.2
mites per 100 bees.  The range was 0.5 - 14.5 mites per 100 bees per colony.
All bees are taken directly from the brood nest.

    6.  Our mean annual level of infestation has been holding steady since
1996
at 6-7 mites per 100 bees.  And, I would reiterate that this is without any
form
of intervention for mite control.

    7.  Anyone wishing corroborate these statements should feel free to
contact
my collaborators.

Eric H. Erickson, Ph.D.

Dr. Eric H. Erickson
fax:520-670-6493
work:520-670-6380 X104
http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
[log in to unmask]

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