>> Do you or does anyone know whether the queen breeders that supply Bob and
>> his friends are indeed selecting for CCD survival?

Absolutely!  No one breed from dead colonies.  Duh.

The Danish beekeepers have had great success in breeding for bees
nearly completely resistant to nosema (ostensibly apis, but not sure).
 Look at the graph in Kirsten Traynor's article in ABJ a few months
ago.  Took about a dozen years.

> We need a higher number of queen breeders but because the work is hard with
> few rewards moneywise few are interested.

Amen!  But time and again, bee stocks naturally-resistant to anything
have been commercial flops, since commercial beeks are happier with
strong honey producers that can be maintained as "no brainers" with
regular application of antibiotics and miticides.  I don't say that
critically--simply as a matter of fact.  It is good business practice
for them.

Despite the lack of any concerted breeding strategy, bees will
continually evolve some resistances, if lack of such resistances
eliminates those colonies before they pass their genes on.

But resistances have costs, and there is no reason to expect bees to
become completely resistant to all parasites (include bacteria and
viruses under that definition).  You will see resistance only when the
benefits of resistance consistently outweigh the costs.

In unmanaged populations, you will still see all the parasites to some
degree, even though genes for resistance exist.  When parasite levels
are low, bees that don't expend energy on resistance can outcompete
resistant bees.  When parasite levels are high, the reverse occurs.
Without human intervention, an uneasy equilibrium may occur, with
oscillations.

Randy Oliver

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