>
> So sorry--certainly didn't mean to offend.
>

For whomever wrote the quote, I have reason to doubt whether main queen
producers check their breeding stock for tracheal mite resistance, and only
in the past few years have they checked for hygienic behavior, or apparent
resistance to any other parasite.


> >Immune responses are often passed to offspring through non-genetic
> methods.


True, but such epigenetic resistance tends to be lost without continued
pressure from the pathogen.  Of interest is that resistance to chalkbrood
appears  to be specific for the strain.  Aussie bees that are resistant to
the local strains in Australia often quickly succumbed to the strain in
Calif.


> >that doesn't mean the queens you sell will pass on a genetic resistance
> mechanism to your customers, twelve hundred miles distant.


I agree with you wholeheartedly on that.  I get sent test queens by
breeders all over the U.S.  Although I'm sure that they are great in the
habitat they came from, they nearly always crash here (with some notable
exceptions).  Personally, I don't make any claims for my stock if someone
wants to take it out of my county.

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

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