> So long as miticides work.  It's more cost effective to have a more
 > productive bee if you can control mites for pennies (although recent
 > data suggests that the Russians and VSH are every bit as productive
 > as other commercial stocks).
 >
 > Change generally happens slowly, and only when it becomes
 > unprofitable to stick with the old ways.

Commercial beekeepers are always on the lookout for an edge and do
attend meetings and visit labs, as well as try out the latest stock
offerings, then debate the merits or lack thereof among themselves.
There is indeed a 'jungle telegraph'.

News of what treatments work and what do not spreads like wildfire
as does word about regulatory clampdowns or trucking worries, so if
these stocks are every bit as productive, why has the word not
gotten out?  I have to assume there is some downside which did not
come out in the studies, such as price, availability, second generation
effects, inconsistency across a yard, etc.

The methods researchers use to evaluate results are often (IMO)
seriously at odds with how commercial beekeepers evaluate their stock.

Researchers use stats, averages, and often ignore outliers and
inconsistency whereas the beekeeper looks at the outliers and the
variance and decides on that basis.  For management purposes,
consistency is a top requirement.

Even if a stock can manage bee scourges and also produce on average,
departures from that average are a management nightmare.  A commercial
beekeeper would rather manage a stock that is consistent, even if it
slightly less productive, than a stock that presents unpredictable
exceptions.  Commercial beekeepers try to manage entire yards at a
time, and often at a distance, sometimes with illiterate and overworked
help. Surprises and special cases are most unwelcome.

A fact that is often ignored in this discussion is that the best
chemical controls applied properly have very consistent results on
any stock, any time, and across hives in different condition, whereas
biological solutions tend to have results that are all over the map.

Moreover, the benefits of special stocks often fail to appear
when the location changes, manifest unevenly over a yard, or simply
evaporate after supersedure.

When a distinct an unequivocal advantage appears it is quickly adopted.

If the claimed advantage is less obvious and is accompanied by
unpredictable downsides, then the adoption is spotty.

What I have observed over the years that the farms that continue over
generations have a policy of sticking with what works and watching new
ideas for a while before adopting them in a limited fashion at first.

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