Hi Mike:
 
I appreciate your reply to my comment questioning whether or not you
are (still) a beekeeper.  I understood from your post that you have
no bees due to self-admitted neglect.
 
Don't get me wrong.  I am very sorry for your loss, and share your
wish for mite-proof bees.
 
I think the question of who can honestly think of himself and call
himself a beekeeper these days does need examination and that's why
I commented on the list.  I think the rules have changed without many
of us noticing.
 
It might help to realise that your 100% loss is a direct result of
thinking that you still qualify as a beekeeper.  Events have proved
you wrong.
 
The implication seemed to be that it is somehow the bees' fault (not
being mite resistant) that they are all dead.  Not so.  Bees
properly kept will still survive - even today.  We have the tools.
 
At this very moment my son (24, BA in Philosophy) is on his way (700
miles each way) to an intensive Bee Masters course.  He has kept his
own bees (24 hives - he usually beats my average) and worked in a
large commercial outfit since he was ten, but still is not really
(100%) a beekeeper.  You might think this is a harsh judgement, but
it is the truth and he knows it. That's why he's investing the time
and effort to learn - and to write the exam.
 
I'm personally signed up for the 3 day disease and mite clinic
presented in Edmonton by our province as well as another course much
farther away.  I have also budgetted $10,000 for mite detection and
control this year.
 
If you have been allowing your hives to collapse with varroa, I pity
your neighbours who are (hopefully) doing everything right.
 
Why not get with the program?  It's not *that* tough.
 
The ante for calling yourself a beekeeper has been raised.  Mites are
here.  There are no mite-proof honeybees.  Even *mite-resistant* bees
need an insightful and competant beekeeper who is prepared to use
controls as indictated.  There is no magic bullet.  You have to think
and observe and manage - and raise your sights.
 
If you don't - no matter what you wish - you are not a beekeeper
anymore because you simply can't keep bees alive - and that is the
*minimum* standard.
 
-------------------------------
 
P.S.
 
I hope you - and others - find this useful.  I spent two and a half
hours trying to say it nicely.  How did I do?
 
I know it still could be construed as being a little abrupt, and I
apologise in advance.