> >The problem is the adaptations the bees > develop are not ones we as beekeepers like or can handle. Charles, I've personally kept colonies that were gentle, extremely productive, and that kept mites to nearly undetectable levels. That real life observation gives me hope. Pete, I'm in agreement with you re the means by which A ceranae fights varroa, as well as how the Primorski bees do. Some of their methods are not amendable to what we expect from commercial bees. However, some are, so I do not feel that this quest is insurmountable. >When beekeepers started keeping cerana and mellifera together varroa quickly found mellifera the prefered host. Not quite true Bob. It took many years before the "Eve" mite mutated to be able to successfully reproduce on A. mellifera. Charlie, you're absolutely right--nature uses the Bond method, but it can work very quickly. The risk is that it may fail, and the host go extinct (again, Santa Cruz Island). If we were all to use it, all of us would have gone out of business when 99% of our colonies died. Hence, modifications of the Bond method, which are more in line with general methods of selective breeding. -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html