<In areas which can support feral bees,
I'm not sure how 'herd immunity' can
exist where colonies which rely on
pesticides for mite control dominate
the herd.  Bees will continually swarm
off into the wild, becoming mite
reservoirs until they succumb. This will
play havoc with herd immunity thresholds.>

 I think herd implies a high concentration though, and it is my
understanding that feral bees tend to be spread out pretty far, which
mitigates transmission.  At least that's the theory I've been hearing
(didn't Seeley do a study on feral mite levels and find that "resistant"
bees in the forest died if they were kept under commercial conditions or
something).  Beekeepers generally have much higher density operations,
which presumably is a much bigger problem.  I'm guessing ferals are seldom
a problem spreading mites simply due to distribution, but I could be wrong.
 Have been before, will be again.

Jeremy
West Michigan

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html