Kerry:
     Thanks for your note regarding varroa resistance.THere are numerous
reports now from APimondia this year.  It is something I will
be dealing with as a postdoc for the next three years.  We're working on an IPM
program for both mites, since it seems unlikely that we can truely breed bees
resistant to both mites at the same time.  An impossibility, as I see it.  Plus
I am doing work on the mites themselves, they should be changing as well as the
bees, faster in fact.
 
     There is much work being done on alternatives to the chemicals. I know
that Nick Calderone has been working on various oils, along with several other
people. Lots of work, nothing written up yet, as it is much too soon.
 
     I want to thank you again for sharing your thesis with me, it was
excellent.  I will have copies of my dissertation available, if you want to
wade through it.  The chapter on tracheal mite behavior on oily bees is quite
exciting and will be published in next year's Experimental and Applied
Acarology. I even made a video for my presentation.
 
     Keep in touch, I am interested to chat with you further about your varroa
control.
 
     Diana Sammataro, Ph.D.
     OHio State University
     COlumbus OH 43210 1220