Hello All

Surely if all of us stopped treating for varroa the strong mites would wipe
out the weak bees and also wipe themselves out.

Next the stronger bees would survive with mites until a balance was achieved.

Thus the selection processes would give us a beekeeping environment whereby
varroa did not cause us a problem.

But of course we all know that this cannot be allowed to happen. Beekeeping
would be a dead duck for many years until the colonies of the surviving bees
could be used to restock the beekeeping world. And what of pollination in
the meantime? I could see the genetic modification brigade busily generating
crops that did not need pollination and then when the bees came back they
would not be needed for pollination.

So meantime we must soldier on with the chemicals, and to a lesser extent
the IPM treatments, waiting for the silver bullet, and hoping like mad that
the silver bullet arrives before resistant mites are wiping the bees out
anyway. And at that stage the treatment for varroa is well and truly stopped
since it is useless!

Another fine mess .. (Laurel and Hardy)

Sincerely
Tom Barrett
Dublin
Ireland