Randy posted

 I mark the best
>
>> honey producers for observation and use as potential breeders but have
>> noticed very few survive the summer.  No data, just observation.
>>
>
> Ditto here!  For a number of years.  Curious, huh?  I'm wondering how much
> is due to varroa buildup in the strongest colonies, and how much due to
> other intrinsic factors.
>

This debate has been interesting and has rekindled thoughts and observations 
of my own from many years ago.

In the days when AFB was a continuing problem, it was a frequent observation 
that the strongest hives and best producers would be the first in the apiary 
to fall victim, and this would often be a post harvest observation.

Many other beeks here observed the same  phenomenon such that it became 
accepted fact. The generally accepted explanation was that the strongest 
colonies would be the first to rob and therefore the first to pick up 
disease.

When I started selecting breeders based on hygienic behaviour, I was 
surprised to find that these top producers displayed no hygienic behaviour 
at all. When I asked Marla Spivak about this she expressed the opinion that 
the top producers should have been the the most hygienic, since the 
healthiest hives were always the strongest and therefore produced more. A 
conundrum indeed!

But I opted for selecting the most hygienic colonies as breeders, and have 
never regreted it. AFB is for me now, a non-event.

To reference Randy's observation, since varroa is not present here, it was 
obviously the "other intrinsic factors" responsible. In our case hygienic 
behaviour, or more correctly, lack of it, that was responsible. Is it 
possibly the same there?  Easy to test using the pin-prick method.

PeterD
in Western Australia, a world away from California, but with so many things 
in common

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