Hello Peter and All,

>
> Peter:
> * Going back to the facts: Why do African bees seem to be able to resist 
> mites?

After spending time in Florida with a much closer version of scutellata than 
the so named AHB which entered from Mexico  its easy to see why those bees 
have no problems with varroa. 16 swarms in a season. Varroa spends most of 
its life clinging onto flying bees (which they are not very adapt at).

Also I think its fair to point out a point which has been pointed out that 
the hybrid which is mostly EU is not very varroa tolerant at all. Like with 
the Russian bee the closer to the original bee the better both seem to 
handle varroa.

Both these bees AHb & Russian seem for the most part uneffected by virus 
although Kirk Webster wrote in ABJ ( Sept. or Oct.) that at seasons end 
hives untreated but showing PMS signs should be shaken out on the ground and 
the equipment taken in cold weather. I agree with Kirk that hives which 
display PMS need removed from a leave alone system as the genetics will work 
against what you are trying to accomplish.

I presonally never saw PMS in my 400 original Russian/Russian headed hives 
but did when open mated with other lines or hybrids. The genetics which 
would make a hive never need a varroa treatment is still mysterious and 
basically unknown. Hygienic *alone* is not the solution long term only a big 
help.

 An example is a friends 900 Marla Spivak queen headed  hives only needing 
an OA treatment once a year.

 Even Russians seem to need a treatment every few years. However getting rid 
of *dinks* in late fall as kirk Webster suggests in ABJ (PMS signs) would go 
a long way to removing genetics which are *not* varroa tolerant.

Back to Peters post:
26. AHB's run on the frames
27. AHB queens leave the brood nest when the nest is opened making queens 
hard to find (hide has been suggested)
28.AHb reacts to venom different than other bees. Even a single sting 
(quickly masked by smoke) can set the hives off.
29 AHb is more defensive when a honey flow is on (which has always been hard 
for me to understand)

bob 


-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************