1950: Buckfast is in the south-west of England, only a few feet above sea level and only a few miles from the Atlantic coast. Three miles to the north-west there is the wide plateau of Dartmoor, which rises to a height of 700 m (2 300 ft). Owing to our particular geographical situation we have an excessive rainfall, with an annual average of 165 cm (65 in.) compared with 58.5 cm (23 in.) for the south of England. The weather is extremely unsettled and changeable The average annual honey yield over the last thirty years has been 30 kg (66 lb.) per colony. Thus we have a favourable balance compared with the average production in America or in Europe. This year (1949) our average crop has been 72.5 kg (160 lb.) per colony, but 22 colonies with queens from the same breeding queen achieved an average of 92.5 kg (204 lb.) Brother Adam Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey Bee World 31(12), 1950, p 89-91 * * * 1991: In a recent issue of Bee World, the official organ of the International Bee Research Association, appeared a leading article by an American scientist expressing a fear that in the course of the winter of 1989-90 more than 1 million colonies perished, primarily due to the ravages of the tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi). He likewise stressed: "Losses from Varroa jacobsoni were predicted, but losses from Acarapis woodi were not widely expected." A few weeks later a letter reached me from a commercial beekeeper from Vermont, who reported that he lost half the number of his colonies in the spring of 1990, due to the tracheal mite, notwithstanding the use of menthol. He stated: "We have a bee capable of meeting our honey production requirements, but none able to withstand the diseases to which the honey bee is subject." In actual fact the loss of colonies recently suffered throughout North America could have been largely prevented if the necessary precautionary measures had been taken in time. In retrospect these reports remind me of the Isle of Wight epidemic, which according to official estimates, in the matter of about 12 years, caused a loss of more than 90 % of the colonies in the British Isles. The first outbreak of this disease was recorded in 1904 in the Isle of Wight. On reaching the mainland it spread like wildfire to every part of the British Isles. It reached Devon in 1913 and our own apiaries the following year. In the winter of 1915-16 we lost close to two-thirds of our colonies. The colonies lost belonged to the indigenous dark native variety, which had existed in this part of Europe since the termination of the last Ice age. Those that survived were mainly of Ligurian origin - the Alps of northern Italy bearing that name. The bees of this region are leather colored not bright yellow or golden. We had here a classic instance of a hopelessly susceptible race and in the Ligurian one manifesting, in identical environmental conditions, a high resistance to the tracheal mite. Moreover, before the demise of the native race every kind of disease of the honey bee could be found in our apiaries. With the eradication of the native variety, all the diseases, apart from acarine, vanished simultaneously. Needless to say, these findings proved a far-reaching turning point in our beekeeping and still more so in our efforts at improving the honey bee. Before very long we also found that the bright yellow or golden strains, irrespective of their origin, including a combination we developed ourselves, have proved invariably exceptionally susceptible to the tracheal mite. Also, we found that this extreme susceptibility will be transmitted by these bright golden drones and dominate when crossed with queens of highly resistant strains. Why this should be so, we do not know. Brother Adam An Inescapable Challenge American Bee Journal 131(8) 1991 p508-510 -- Peter L. Borst ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************