>
> > I don't doubt for a second there may be some immigration,  but there
> would also be emigration at the same time.  Based on our conversation that
> mites don’t move much,  one would have to assume that that train would run
> both ways.
>

It would, but would follow the math of diffusion--the few high-mite
colonies would increase the counts of the low-mite colonies more than the
reverse.


> What I see is the people hear you and Dennis,  and are actually using it
> as the reason their hives failed,  without knowing or understanding at all
> what was going on in their own hives!  They may or may not even ever
> treat,  but its always the neighbors fault for letting that hive crash.
>

People will always look for anything to blame their own failures on.  A
turning point in my life is when I decided to never make excuses--just
eliminate them from anything I say.  I respect beekeepers who don't make
excuses.  In my own operation, with plenty of mite immigration from
outside, we lose very few colonies to varroa.  The excuse of blaming your
neighbors for your failure to manage mites is a waste of time--learn to
deal with it.

Re the experimental protocols, I just posted under another subject line.



-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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