Hello Joe & All,

Joe asked:
any consideration 'out there' for the existence of varroa
resistance in honeybees playing a role in the feral resurgence?

Absolutely! The Russian bee is truely a varroa survivor and many swarms of
Russian bees have went into the trees.

 IMO, it
>would be important to identify what traits are leading the way to varroa
resistance in feral honeybees, which are generally free from the too often
misguided selective pressures found in domestic beekeeping.

I have observed many queen breeding attempts to find a truly varroa tolerant
bee. Only one attempt has impressed me. Dann Purvis (Purvis Brothers
Apiaries) in Georgia.

Dann uses the "live and let die" method of breeder queen selection. Adds
varroa pressure to his possible breeder queens ( in other words adds varroa
to the hive to increase the varroa pressure) and uses a six way instrumental
insemination closed system to keep his varroa tolerant line pure. You can
read about the Purvis Brothers methods in the January 2004 (I think the year
was 2004 but sure January) ABJ. Dann and sons on the cover and article by
Bob Harrison.

I also had an article on the Russian bee the same month only in Bee Culture.

The "live and let die" method is tough and requires further weeding out of
undesirable genetics later on. However each journey starts with the first
step and over time I believe Dann will come up with a line of bees which
will tolerate varroa and other problems AND also be gentle, good honey
producers and have other desirable qualities.

Purvis Brothers queens shipped into our area this year performed well but
too early to tell about varroa issues.

Those on the list which are getting Russian bees from the program (now that
selection has started between lines) have any comments on this or last years
USDA-ARS Russian queen release?

bob


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