> >Here, the term "Bond Method" takes credit for the fact that one cannot
> easily breed from dead bees?
>

Exactly.  Mother Nature has used the Bond Method for some 3.5 billion
years, resulting in every successful host-parasite relationship currently
extant.  True, there were plenty of losers.  But in areas with large and
diverse enough starting populations, the approach has appeared to work with
Apis mellifera and Varroa destructor.

The main question is, what traits are most important to the
beekeeper--varroa resistance, or bees suitable for handling and honey
production?  The Bond Method will select for the first.  Beekeepers may not
be happy with the result.  They would then need to select from that
population for other desirable traits.

An alternative method would be to start with productive colonies, and apply
both negative and positive selection pressure--favoring productivity and
gentleness, and selecting strongly against colonies which allow mites to
build up.  This is the approach that I've used for the past 5 or so years,
after I gave up on importing stock that claimed mite resistance (I will say
that purebred Russians performed pretty well).

We are in the middle of selecting breeders this spring (selected about 10
yesterday).  Every year for the past 5 years, the percentage of our
breeders that score zero mites in a wash of ~300 bees from a brood frame
has increased.  We perform this test after almonds.  All colonies were
treated with an oxalic dribble in November, and all went into the winter
with mites (I don't use any high-efficacy synthetic miticides).  By
selection time in March, all have gone through 3-5 varroa reproductive
cycles, at least one with abundant drone brood (the colonies are full of
emerged drones).

Of the strong, productive colonies selected as potential breeders, most
score in the range of 0-6 mites, with a few having much more (this season
one had 15, and one nearly 30).  We generally only breed from those scoring
zero or 1 mite (I selected one with 2 mites yesterday, since it was the
best honey producer we have found this spring).

That said, for reality check, none of last year's breeders would have
survived 'til winter without treatment of some sort.  I will run the same
test again this season.  I am not out to make extravagant claims or to
pitch anything--I simply tell it like it is.  We are happy with the
progress of this program, as we can see progress on the mite front each
year.  We're not treatment free yet, but we run a profitable operation
using only low-efficacy "natural" treatments.

>
> >I'll add some detail for those too busy with their bees to have read up on
> this.
>

Others may wish to also read up on the current literature on epigenetic
inheritance in domesticated animals (easy to search).  Our understanding of
this process is rapidly expanding, and a hot topic in genetics.  The field
is kinda like it was in the '60's with plate tectonics--there is a paradigm
shift going on.  Will take a while for us to fully understand.  Those set
in old school genetics of course resist having to rethink everything they
"knew."

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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