> > about 5 years ago), We are both trying to be prepared for when
> >the infestation reaches our respective areas. This being so we are
> > monitoring for the presence of varroa, and I would suggest that the
> >evidence is that there is about three years from first infestation to
> >collapse of colony.
>
> I regret to inform you, from personal experience this statement is
> incorrect. Varroa entered our area late last year, and from finding it to colony
> collapse was only a matter of weeks.
 
It almost seems to me -- and I have been struck by this a number of times -
-  that it almost sounds as if people are discussing entirely different
phenomena.
 
On one hand some people say that it just happens over time and that after
a while it will kill colonies if nothing is done.  Others say that 'wham'
it hit us out of nowhere and colonies were dead before we realized it was
here.
 
Why is this?
 
Even the collapse and abscond phenomenon that some describe does not seem
to be universal.  And mites riding in three abreast on the backs of robber
bees...
 
We too found our first varroa last year and it was pretty much a non-event
as far as I can tell at this point.  Sure, we had to spend a lot money and
put in strips, and maybe we will find after winter that we lost hives to
varroa, but so far it does not look at all that that way.  So far it looks
pretty much business as usual, qand that's what my friends who have had
varroa for years report.  In fact some of them are better beekeepers and
get better crops for having varroa keep them on their toes.
 
What is going on here?
 
We montored for years with alcohol wash and spot checks with Apistan and a
sticky board and called an emergency last August when we found three
mites.  What methods were the others using?
 
I plan to move to an IPM approach this year and am somewhat worried that I
might find myself in trouble if I miss one hive in a yard or one feral
colony with heavy mites, because of these reports of heavy infestations
coming in massively from nowhere with no warning.
 
Frankly I tend to doubt that the people reporting this latter phenomenon
were actually monitoring properly and were thus taken by surprise, but I
hate to rely on that hunch for fear of becoming one of the victims.
 
What am I missing here?  Can I tolerate a llittle varroa, like my European
friends seem to think, or do I have to pull out the heavy artillery and
bomb them into submission,  American style????
 
Allen