a Monk Benedict snip followed by > my comment
Perhaps new beeks should get four hives: one for mites, one for starving, one to go queenless, and one for honey.  That would be a great way to see first-hand the effects of not treating, not feeding, why to learn queen-rearing, and how much heavy lifting is involved.

I started with three and mixed a lot of syrup.  :)

>Great response...

>As I often suggest to new beekeeper (typically in some bee meeting) 3 is a prime number.

>As to management strategy I did the same but unknown to me (I was just learning about varroa mites) I purchased 3 packages of non treatment stock from my neighbor. Actually at that time they were not even advertised as non treatment bees.  The landscape and seasonal variation is such here that one either feeds (sometimes more and sometimes less) or you end up with a lot of empty equipment. Feeding is one aspect in the management of bees that has change a great deal in the past 50 years < one primary aspect is the cost difference between honey and sugar has spread significantly. 

Gene in Central Texas...

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