In message <003c01c3f6a8$047941a0$43bc59d8@BusyBeeAcres>, Bob Harrison
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>As far as an  open mating area James you really need to control the drones
>for ten miles in all directions for  close to perfect  drone control.
Of course, and this is not possible with my area. My friend has a better
chance, near the tip of a more southerly peninsula (the Lizard). I am
bringing in as many locals as I can into the rearing project, so, in
time, hopefully!!! For the moment, I am bringing mating nucs to my
largest, central apiary, and hope for conditions which favour our local
strains and close geographical mating as well as cool weather strains.
Both tend to bias against Italian bees, which I regard as inferior in
our area. We do get people bringing in Italians and Buckfasts, either on
a small scale, or as commercial beekeepers, so from time to time, we see
obvious crosses coming out. What I am aiming for is enough involvement
in bee improvement (for varroa management) over the county, that at
least, people will develop their beekeeping skills, even if we don't get
a bee able to manage varroa on its own.
>Maybe wintering has more to do with the beekeeper than the strain of bees?
I think the List has given enough information about practices to show
this. Here our bees do continue to rear brood more or less throughout
the winter and this makes for some variation in management, particularly
with regard to varroa breeding. The imperative to learn is very strong!
I am encouraged by the low mite counts we do get in many colonies though
and I am sure that the genes are there to pull out. The parallel
weakening of varroa, recognised in France, may mean we converge the two
strands: varroa suicide and bee improvement. I hope this makes sense.
--
James Kilty

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