In message <[log in to unmask]>, Tony Bloor
<[log in to unmask]> writes
 
>My aim is to have increased to six hives by the
>autumn which I hope to achieve by obtaining swarms.
 
>Would it be wise to avoid this method of making increase or I am just
>delaying the inevitable? I would be interested to know if there are any
>common practices around this issue.
>
Tony - We're still clear of varroa here in Merseyside as of last Autumn,
but my own feeling is that if you collect swarms from within a few miles
of your existing colonies, then you can't make things worse. Either they
have the big V - so you will get it soon anyway by natural methods - or
they havn't - so no harm done.
 
In any case I feel that the long-term solution has got to be
resistant/tolerant strains, and so I imagine that getting hold of a
range of genes from the wild must improve our chances of finding
desirable traits.
--
Alyn W. Ashworth
Lancashire & North-West Bee-Keepers' Association. UK.
(but I don't speak on their bee-half)
http://www.demon.co.uk/emphasys