Hello All,
Aaron's descrption of the SMR is close to the way I understand *what* we
really don't fully understand *yet* ( and may never).  To understand any
problem the problem needs to be closely looked at.  Denis Anderson and John
Harbo have taken a closer look at our varroa problem than most researchers.
It is almost funny now to look at pictures of varroa in old magazines and
see obvious varroa D. labeled varroa J.  Once pointed out the difference is
very obvious because of the different shapes.  My favorite is a frontal
picture of a varroa J. and the rear varroa D.
To find SMR John Harbo had to remove brood and remove larvae and count the
number of varroa, those which reproduced, those which didn't  and those
imature.  Most beekeepers and queen breeders simply do not have the time for
such precise measurements.  Although SMR traits exist in most bees finding
those bees in another matter.
The adds claim 100% SMR in their queens.  How is the average beekeeper going
to verify SMR?   The adds say even open mated will *improve* in varroa
resistance.  How could they not BUT enough to quit using chemicals? How
about later generations open mated?   Most queen breeders in the south have
not got remote mating yards capable of assuring correct matings back to the
other SMR lines.  Dr. Harbo says not to worry.   I and my close friend of
"Bell Hill Honey" are trying to keep our SMR lines pure.  In my opinion all
the *open mated* talk is simply talk to try and help get beekeepers to try
to incorporate the SMR trait into their bees.  If I am on the chemical
treadmill then why would I need to add the SMR trait?   I said the same
about Buckfast bees . If you are going to treat your bees with menthol or
grease patties why do you need to switch to a tracheal mite resistant bee?
The SMR makes sense.  I wish maybe it didn't.   Switching to SMR means
switching for me to a different type of bee. Carniolan instead of Italian.
The linage of these bees is basically unknown. They were chosen for the SMR
project because of the amount of SMR they shown in tests.  We are putting a
lot of faith in the SMR project to raise the SMR stocks instead of our
proven lines.  I personally do not believe the SMR queens are 100% varroa
non reproduction as advertised.  Nor do I believe that open mated queens
with the population will be able to survive without chemical treatments. I
do believe (like Aaron) enough to invest my time and money to see for
myself. So far I have taken 24 35mm pictures of our project. They are being
developed and I should get those back Saturday. I plan to write a few
articles about our project and send those to my friend Kim Flottum of *Bee
Culture*. Those reading can then see what problems we ecountered and success
we have had. I am pleased to anounce our SMR queens arrived in excellent
condition (on July Fourth), introduced and we have raised two rounds of
offspring from the yellow line. My line is the red line and I moved her into
a single hive body last week and she is on four frames of brood and laying a
excellent pattern. We had eggs laid not at the bottom of the cell at first
with both queens but then they settled down. We don't understand why but
happened only at first and hasn't happened since.
I passed on the Russian queens for a couple of reasons.  Are any bee-l
listers running open mated Russian queens without chemicals and if so what
kind of mite load have they got now?  Are they producing as advertised?
Will they need treatment to survive the coming winter?
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri