In article <[log in to unmask]>, "Walter T.
Weller" <[log in to unmask]> writes
>>Should we now be looking in the  feral stocks in countries that have had
>the >mite for many years for the resistant bee?
>>
>>Does this make any sense?
>>
>> Stewart
>>Cumbria, UK. (an old Gable-Endie)
>>
>Yes, Stewart, it does make sense, and the U.S. Dept. of Agr.'s Bee
>Research Lab at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has recently imported a hundred
>or so queens chosen from stocks of European honey-bees in eastern Siberia
>(around Vladivostok) which have been living with Varroa for over a
>century (since European Russians settled in that area}.  The bees are
>still in quarantine on Grand Terre island off the Louisiana coast, and
>should clear quarantine early in 1998, be brought to the Baton Rouge lab,
>and be subjected to research programs to find out just how good they are.
> For more information, you might contact Dr. Tom Rinderer, director of
>the Baton Rouge lab.
>
>Incidentally, it appears that U.S. Varroa jacobsonii is descended from
>the Siberian strain of mites.  The Brazilian V. jacobsonii, where our
>American Africanized bees got their start, is descended from a Japanese
>strain.  These two races of V. jacobsonii are recognizably different
>genetically, and appear to differ markedly in virulence, the
>Japanese/Brazilian being the lesser of the two evils.  So, reports that
>Africanized bees in Latin America are resistant to Varroa should be taken
>with a grain of salt.  Until the Africans have lived with U.S. Varroa for
>a few years we won't know how tough they really are.
>
>And in that regard, their advance into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and
>California seems to have come pretty much to a stand-still for the past
>two years or so.  Could this be due to the mites?  There isn't much else
>reasonably to blame it on.  Some say our local fire-ants may deserve
>credit, but they are imports from South America themselves, and our
>European bees have coexisted with them for forty years more or less.
>Others suggest that our North American intensive cultivation with its
>heavy pesticide usage is more than the Africans can handle, but again,
>our European bees have withstood that problem for many years.  The
>climate along the "stall-out" line is not severe (approximately 30
>degrees north latitude - equivalent to Cairo, Egypt).  So what else is
>there?  Who knows?
>
>And what, pray tell, is a "Gable-Endie"?
>
>Walter Weller
>Post Office Box 270
>Wakefield, Louisiana  70784
><[log in to unmask]>
Dear Walter,
 
Thank you for an interesting and informative post.
 
I was unaware of this experimentation going on with Siberian bees, but
it would, at least superficially, seem an obvious place to look and see
if any truly resistant or tolerant strains had developed.
 
The only snags I can see are that we may not know how long these
particular strains had been there, as the Russians are/were great hive
movers over huge distances, and indeed thus brought varroa to Europe in
the first place. It could therefore be that the presence of these bees
in that area is the result of constant re-introductions from Western
Russia. Doubtless this has been well researched already, but it would be
interesting to know. If they have happily existed there for many years
without treatment AND if varroa is endemic in the area, then there could
be the genetic basics there to be built on. On the other hand it could
be some other factor causing the tolerance, such as some biological
agent, which could still be valuable, or perhaps climatic factors, which
could not be exported. It is an interesting line of development and I
look forward to reading about its progress.
 
Regarding the 'stall-line' you mentioned in connection with the progress
of Africanised bees, it seems interesting that you mention Cairo, Egypt.
May that be because in Africa A.m.scutellata has never progressed up
past Egypt/Sudan. For many years, probably tens of thousands or more,
the African bee has existed in its native range. It has never gone up
through the Egypt area, The Middle East, and on into Turkey and Europe,
despite having a land bridge it could readily have crossed. I have heard
argument that the Sahara stops it, but in Eastern Africa this area is
traversed by  fertile river valleys, the Rift valley, and coastal areas,
all of which, given the immense time scales involved, represent highways
along which this race could easily have migrated, IF they were able to.
Thus, if they have been unable to get past 30 N in Africa, it may be
that in North America you will find the same thing happening. Local
climatic factors will obviously also have a bearing on just how far
North they can get but in some areas they may already be near their
maximum range, with or without mite predation. The climatic factor
causing the bees not to progress in Africa may not be obvious to us and
we may think it not severe, but WE are not an African bee, so it is
difficult to tell. The 'stall line' in South America is just below
Buenos Aires, which is only about 35 S, so this is in the same ball
park. Seasonality could be part of the controlling factor, with
fluctuating day lenght, with or without pronounced winter cold periods,
being something they cannot withstand.
 
Finally, unless Stewart gets back to you himself, a 'Gable Endie' is an
old slang term for a native of Montrose, a town on the east coast of
Scotland, where I believe Stewart used to live. A gable end, from which
the term is derived, is the end wall of a traditionally built house. I
have heard, although it may not be the true origin, that because the
North sea is so cold, and the mean wind that blows off it, that all the
houses in old Montrose were built with their gable ends towards the sea
and the cold wind, so that it did not blow directly into their front
doors and windows. If this is incorrect I dare say Stewart will put the
matter straight!
 
Any way, thank you for your input and I hope to read more from you in
the future.
 
 
--
Murray McGregor
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