>... the very clear parallels between her observations and those of typical beekeeping practices in Africa. The bees take care of themselves, they fend off parasites, they swarm all the time and readily move back into empty equipment, etc etc. 

I recall noting a small swarm in January on one of my visits to Lusbys' and mentioned it, I  believe, in one of my 2002 Bee Culture articles about the visit --  http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Lusby/ -- The swarm was notable because it was in the middle of winter and definitely reminded me of AHB behaviour. We noted that the hive equipment is kept on site, on the stands, whether occupied or not.

>Meanwhile, many of us are keeping European honeybees in heavily populated areas where there is a very high reinfestation rate. While I formerly attributed a lot of this to drifting, I now think that it is far more likely due to robbing. I think that colonies preying upon the weak may go on a lot more than we know. ...they call it progressive robbing. 

I agree and see it all the time and noted an event in my diary this fall.  It is particularly apparent when a hive has upper  entrances and more than a  minimum  number of boxes  and the colonies have settled in for the fall, or when hivetop feeders are in place and are not quite bee-proof.  We see bees flying from the cluster at the bottom of the hive and raiding the neighbouring feeders or supers, while ignoring their own feeder which is maybe a foot away, above the cluster.

To some extent, all the hives in an apiary can be regarded as one big colony, even if they fight sometimes, and I think it was Dewey Caron who mentioned how the region defended by a colony may be related to the normal size of the cluster.  In the tropics, the bees do not actually form a cluster in the way they do in the north and therefore defend a larger radius. In the north, the bees 'own' less volume around the hive centre. (It is not quite that simple and I have not got the time to go into it here and now).

>If the better colonies continually prey on the weaker, they would be expected to pick up all sorts of pathogens this way. Working as a bee inspector, we often found that the best colonies in the yard had the most mites per bee; to find AFB you look at the ones that are almost dead first, and then look at the tall boys.

You are absolutely right, Pete, so your comments bear repeating.

BTW, when I grilled Dee about  how her claims could be scientifically proven in controlled studies, she was quite adamant that  there  was no way to do that.   Regardless  of what I suggested in terms of trials, she found flaws with  every  approach. 

A man went to a doctor and told him, "I am dead".   The doctor was puzzled and said, "How do you know?". 

The man said, "I just know. I am dead." 

The doctor thought a minute and said, "Do dead men bleed?"

The man said, "No, of course not."  

The doctor took and man and pricked him, and out came a drop of blood.  

"Now", said the doctor, "What do you think.".  

"How about that," the man said, "Dead men do bleed!"

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