Hello Peter and All,
Excellent post Peter and I hope we can all "Agree to disagree" as I do not
believe *simple selection* will work but might over a very long time with
luck (20 years).

From ABJ article (1999)
This  >Varroa tolerant population has survived for nearly five years with
> >mean annual infestation level between 6 and 7 percent." Erickson Jr,
> >E. (1999)

This study IN MY OPINION is a joke as I  said on Bee-L in 1999. It involved
AHB bees and not European bees. Many other issues have been raised about the
way the above study was carried out.

> Peter wrote:
> What this means is: varroa resistant/tolerant bees can be found in
> *any* population of bees.   results by referring to these *other*
> factors obscures what is really going on: simple selection. I have
> never doubted that *this* is possible; in fact, it is our best hope.

My self  and those  researchers  at  Baton Rouge feel different. All those
BUT Dr. Erickson found there were  too many varibles in mite populations for
simple selection to work in the short term. . One friend of mine dropped
from 2000 hives to less than 200 before he gave up on simple selection.

Finding SMR solved the problem of *simple selection*but finding SMR is
beyound the abilities of many beekeepers. If *simple selection* had worked
then there never would have been a need to isolate the two genes responsible
for the SMR trait would there?
.
I find it most interesting that Dr. Erickson was able to do what no other
researcher in the U.S. (including beekeepers) could do.

Simple selection is not the answer from my experience  and never worked for
me. Simple selection alone never worked for Dee.

We ALL believed back then as Peter does now that simple selection would work
in all populations BUT we figured around 20 years  would be the time frame
back then.  Dr. Erickson reported results right from the start doing the
same as the rest of us.

 Has anyone ever  received any of these  varroa tolerant Dr. Erickson
queens?
 Why not?
 Why did not we all raise queens from these bees?
 Research dollars were spent on years of research and success was *reported*
send me a couple of those queens for testing and I will publish my findings
on Bee-L.
I will leave untreated and see the varroa load they carry and report when
they die.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison