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.

Not sure what this is in response to. I too have observed firsthand colonies with mite resistance. My question is about colony mortality. Nobody who has mite resistant bees is willing to show the survival rate of the colonies, other than with anecdotal information. It usually boils down to "I don't treat and I still have bees, so there."

Letting the bees dwindle down to 5-10% of the summer count and then splitting them is certainly a viable technique of keeping bees. But it is not the same as trying to winter over decent colonies and have them strong in spring. The question is how do they compare to other strains of bees. What are the trade offs.

PLB

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