With all this talk about super mites from California, is there risk in buying queens from California breeders this spring?  These super mites could arrive on attendant bees.

Regards,

Waldemar
Long Island, NY



> I have talked about these super mites before on Bee-L. They are not
a
> figment of beekeepers imaginations researchers! Until you experience
these
> varroa first hand you have a hard time understanding. I have! Researchers
> are reacting slow to our claims but I have seen these varroa all summer.

I'm wondering about these mites.  Do they build up faster than the normal
mites, or is it just that they do not respond to treatment?

My understanding has been that reasonably clean packages should not need
treatment the first year.  How is it that they could collapse themselves and
adjacent hives the first year?

Or were the packages carrying a heavy load on arrival?

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