RD>From: Richard Drutchas <[log in to unmask]>
  >Date:         Sat, 28 Jun 1997 07:21:56 +0000
  >Subject:      cell size
  >Organization: Bee Haven Honey
 
RD>Early on I was hearing that AHB was more tolerant to varroa now Im
  >hearing that its varroa that is holding AHB back in southern Texas. How
  >about it is varroa killing feral AHB in Brazil?
 
Hello Richard,
 
Varroa has not disappeared from any area of the world they have been
reported in, as far as I have read, or heard.
 
Some areas such as Brazil and other SA location have varroa but they are
not reported to be a problem to hivebees or their feral offspring.
They appear to reach a certain level in the honeybee populations, (maybe
10%), and co exists with their honeybee hosts. Some say this is because
they are different, but the damage and vector they provide for other
pathogens is the same if they were made in Japan or Eastern Europe.
 
I have long suspected that the right kind of sales promotion of chemical
treatments could fast change the perceived threat from Vampire mites
even in Brazil and all beekeepers would be treating there today to
prevent loss. Maybe an aggressive government give away program such as
reported done in other areas and with queen bees in the past would
change the bee tolerance to mites or is it beekeeper tolerance? Brazil
has been blessed with some real bee scientists that have resisted the
pesticide merry-go-around. Or it could be that producing pesticide
advertizements in the language of Brazil is not cost effective as it is
in the English or Spanish language.
 
Many explanations have and will be given why one area suffers from
horrendous loss of honeybees and the other none or less, the best answer
is better pasture and less stress in one area over another.
 
It is interesting to note that in the USA we have since the first
importation of bees had climatic health problems with them. These
problems seem to run in cycles with large die offs each time placed on
some biological disaster. Then followed by periods of relative calm
until the next event. I personally believe we are again entering one of
those extended periods of relative calm. Sadly beekeepers in the US will
be treating for one problem or another forever. Some will change from
costly chemical treatments to less costly and non toxic things like
mineral oil for Vampire mites.
 
As for the feral populations.. One thing I have noticed in almost 50
years of stoop labor in my own bee hives is there is less swarming. This
is because I am a better beekeeper, use better stock, and my bees have
poorer pasture then they once had, all more or less true. I mention this
because the continued hype to the public media of the big loss reported
by some in the wild or feral honeybee populations. This is being
unwarranted made into some kind of natural disaster when it is nothing
more the the reflection of our own efforts and may have passed in the
wind. Feral hives are different in only one respect from hive bees and
that is they are the survivors of swarms issued by our hives. If we have
no or much less swarms in our hivebees then in time there will be no or
few feral hives in many areas of the US that are hostile to bees because
of the same factors that reduce our own hive numbers each year under the
best of care and environmental conditions.
 
It is also well to remember that all the research done on feral
honeybee populations in the USA does not amount to much more then a few
local grad student projects. There does not exist a data base of feral
hive statistics over any extended period of time for more then a limited
local area and most of these are very limited spastic observations. It
is sad to see so many research and proposed research papers with figures
of gloom and doom on feral and hive bee populations but then thats
pure USA BS (bee science) for you and they wonder why they are on the
short list.
 
ttul, the OLd Drone
 
 
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