Hello Keith & All,

Keith said:
Maybe it is because none of the voices above are unified in the mission of
keeping bees without any treatments at all.

Bees can not survive the ravages of varroa without some beekeeper help be it
varroa tolerant queens (best choice by far) , small cell , IPM methods etc.

Keith said:
It is not unlike human nature for individuals to have different opinions and
their own way of doing things.

All the people on my list want the same thing but are pursuing different
methods. Medhat formic acid and Zach biology of varroa.
I list Dee & Dr. Pedro because both are very sincere in their efforts to get
beekeepers off the chemical treadmill. Sure I have had heated discussions
with both on Bee-L but consider both friends and more like than unlike in
our beliefs!

Keith said:
I only know of one in your list above that is keeping bees successfully
commercially without any treatments at all.

What about me?

Keith said:
 I only know of one person in your list above doing this and this person is
teaching others how to do it without the greed or the need to make money
teaching it or sharing it.

What about me Keith? I wrote two articles in order to share information
(American Bee Journal & Bee Culture January 2005).
Surely you don't think I would take time out of my busy day to write for the
money? Did Dee write her article on small cell for Bee Culture for the
money? I don't think so! How about a small cell update Dee?

Keith said:
 There is no need for patented Queens,

Apparently you are alone in your thinking as Purvis is booked through July
2005. Slipping in a varroa tolerant queen is the easiest , cheapest and
fastest solution to a varroa problem. We used the Purvis brothers Gold Line
queens last year and raised queens from same and the daughters open mated to
our lines were as near as we can tell as varroa tolerant as the queen
mothers bees.

Sadly  after years of comb contamination from chemical strips comb will need
to be removed from many hives to get our bees up too full health ( a point
all on my list agree on!) *which* is a plus for those pushing small cell
because if you need to replace comb and are willing to spend the labor then
small cell is not as costly as comb needs replaced anyway. Small cell
plastic is 1.80 U.S. a sheet (Dadant 2004 catalog) which limits the
commercial beekeepers interest when he can by plastic sheets at a third of
the price with regular cells (which I consider the correct size).

Keith said:
treatments or fancy apparatus to keep bees alive, all that is
needed is for beekeepers to learn how to keep bees as they were kept over
100 years ago.

If a good point exists about varroas arrival  it is all the new discoveries
which have been made since the arrival of varroa about our honey bees around
the world by researchers and beekeepers. I believe I have got the largest
collection of old bee books in the Midwest and enjoy reading books of a 100
years ago and on occasion quote from same. I have NEVER found an answer to
todays tough beekeeping problems in the old books.

As always I hope we "can agree to disagree" Keith and have missed your posts
on Bee-L.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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