>… I am a realist and successful business man. I make a
>living from bees. Each hive is a production unit. Just keeping the hive
>around all season costs money. 


Commercial beekeepers often put forth the above reason for not going 
forward with efforts to breed a bee that is not dependant on treatments to 
survive.  

It seems on the surface to be a perfectly reasonable excuse. 
But NOT when you consider what the essentials are when running 
a ’business’ or company.  

In 'successful business', it is required that funds be allocated towards 
research and development to keep up with the competition.  In the business 
of commercial beekeeping, we perhaps need to start thinking of ’diseases 
of the honeybee’ as a fierce competitor.  And need to develop working 
business plans to insure the integrity of the industry as a 
whole.           

IMO, the failure of some commercial beekeepers to develop a resistant bee 
can be attributed to a ‘failure to develop a working business model‘.  The 
keeping of colonies for breeding varroa resistance should NOT be coming 
from ‘out of pocket’.  But being essential part of keeping up with the 
competition, the 3 to 5% or so of the gross should be earmarked to 
research and development, and considered an <<essential part of the 
business plan>> and therefore not coming out of ones 'pocket money'.  

A working business model has been proven key to success throughout history:

After WWII, when America was rebuilding Japans industry.  A Corporate 
Executive from the USA went to Japan and taught some of the Cooperate 
Executives there to set strict guidelines for how capital gets distributed 
within the company.  He put forth his business plan that set percentages 
determining the amount of  funds going towards research and development, 
retooling, maintenance etc.  Business in Japan embraced this new 
philosophy to the point of the USA Corporate Executive becoming famous 
icon in Japan, while he remains less known here in the USA.  The name 
escapes me, maybe someone can provide it, perhaps he worked with Motorola, 
and perhaps was featured on a TV news magazine not long ago.  Many 
businesses in Japan have followed the model, and are now a formidable 
competitive force as a result.

So one might suggest, that the key to breeding a better bee is to FIRST 
develop a working business model, that will insure we keep up with the 
competitors.

So IMO,  the excuse that it would ‘cost a commercial beekeeper money to 
breed a bee not dependant on treatments’ is perhaps more suggestive of a 
failed business model than it is affordability.  

Best Wishes,
Joe

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