>
> >In my opinion varroa alone are devastating. Adding the disease they
> spread only make them more so.


I don't see evidence to support this opinion.  In the first years of
invasion by varroa in every region for which I've spoken with beekeepers
(and based upon my own observations), colonies were able to recover from
mite infestation rates in fall of up to 1 mite per bee (100 mites per 100
bees).  All one needed to do was to knock the mites back to close to zero,
and the colony would chug on just fine.  This evidence tends to refute the
hypothesis that mites alone are that harmful to colonies.


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

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