> It seems to me that quanantine regulations are of little use for bees or
> any other animal since it is almost 100% certain that whatever disease you
> are trying to prevent will eventually reach that area.  All you are doing
> is delaying the inevitable and when this occurs your stocks will have no
> resistance to the desease and the effect will be worse.
 
Some of the *behavioural* characteristics that we refer to as
'resistance' are not necessarily directly related to the presence of
a specific pest.
 
That is, bees don't *have* to be exposed to mites, for instance, for
them to have developed some of the defence strategies that would make
them capable of dealing with mites.  'Resistance' may in fact be the
presence of more generalised grooming, housekeeping, sanitary or
whatever characteristics - which may well be present or bred for
without the colony ever being exposed to the pest/disease.
 
Again, I'm not a scientist, but I would be interested in a more
informed discussion on whether I am right in this understanding of
variations in the meaning of 'resistance'.
 
  (\      Nick Wallingford
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