>In order to obtain greater acceptance by commercial operators, the
proponents of resistant stock need to develop and promote practical
management systems that approach the same consistency as chemical solutions.
We get into a sort of Catch-22. Resistant stock surrounded by commercial
nonresistant stock is often overwhelmed by the immigration of varroa from
the nonresistant stock. This is likely one reason that isolated hobby
apiaries are able to experience high survival despite lack of mite
treatment.
We are in the middle of an evolutionary adaptation by Apis mellifera into a
new host-parasite relationship with Varroa destructor. It appears to me to
be proceeding steadily, albeit frustratingly slowly in the time scale of an
individual beekeeper's career.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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