Bob Harrison wrote:
>Since 1994 my beekeeping friends and i haven't been able to locate any
feral
>>colonies which have survived the mites....
>>Having serious doubts about varroa resistant bees i hope to see for
myself....
>>if any bee-l readers can advise on a plan of
action for confirming these bees resistant please advise. I plan to
sample and test the bees myself for tracheal mites,nosema and varroa
mite load. I plan to send a sample of the bees to Beltsville to see how
our results compare....
>>I plan to put the colony  in an area away from other colonies till
August 1 then if still alive bring into high varroa area and leave
untreated over winter.

Hello Bob,
     I have a couple of questions.  For one I have seen many various
definitions of "resistant" used by beekeepers.  I seem to remember that
you yourself thought that a level of mite infestation in the 7% (7 mites
per 100 honeybees) range was not sufficient in some heated discussion
regarding the development of tolerant/resistant stock in the Carl Haydn
research lab in Arizona.  This is of course putting aside the challenge
to how legitimate their claims were by yourself.  I have difficulty
believing that you will not find varroa in this colony unless it is so
isolated from other colonies as to have not been infested for three
years (if indeed they have really been there for a full three years).
If indeed they are resistant (in my definition: able to sustain
controlled low levels of mite infestation so as not to have a major
impact upon the viability of the colony)they you will find mite
infestation levels in the 5-10 mites per 100 bees range.  It is also
important to consider that it has been shown that factors such as
natural comb size, as opposed to the size to which the foundation is
printed (which can be variable) can have an impact on a colonies
viability.
    I would suggest that you take this colony and place it in a bee yard
that is known to have mite infestation which would go out of control if
not treated.  Otherwise expose the bees to the mites and see how they
respond.  If indeed they are resitant and can cope with the mites to
keep infestation low then they should not fall prey to the mites.  If
however they are not you will end up at the worst losing a colony of
bees.  I would let nature play its course with this colony.
    I have a similar experience to this one.  There is a feral colony of
bees that I have been watching for several years now and one which my
fellow beekeepers tell me has been in the same tree for 15+ years now.
I have left them to their own devices for several reasons.  I wanted to
document their progress in their natural environment and I wanted to
capture swarms from it every year.  I have set up swarm traps and am
waiting to see the results.  I have doubte about this colony because
they are really isolated.  But another part of me tells me that if they
have been there for 15+ years then the genetic offspring from this
colony must have moves on quite a ways.  I have also been working with
not treating some of my colonies.  I have not counted the percentage of
mite infestation in some of these colonies but I know for a fact that
they have survived the past two winters with the varroa mite and have
been strong productive colonies.  Being a small hobbyist I can afford to
do this.  I hope to continue my experiment expanding to more scientific
methods of counting mite infestation and examining other criteria.
   Looking forward to hearing about your experiments with this colony.


                                        Yuuki