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Date: | Mon, 15 Mar 2021 07:00:56 -0500 |
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several Janet L.Wilson snips followed by my comment
>Which points up my main difficulty with the TF crowd. They often state that they do not treat and yet have "success". What they do not define is what *they* mean by success. No metrics. And, as with the info cited on Lusby, Kefuss and Gottland, when these "successes" fail, or are discredited, you never hear about that.
It should be noted here the reason for the failure of Kefuss bees (actually his son's) were not mites but pestiide. The problems I perceive for a lot of beekeepers (many new and some old) is 1) the ONLY problem in regards to a bee hives health is varroa and folks tend to see only what they are looking for and 2) the IPM pyramid has evidently been flipped upside down in the first and only remedy attempted in some application of some form of hard chemical. As to 2) go to some commercial page and see the folks that recommend a off label use of a product designed for treating dogs for mange and of course this products does have long term negative impact on a hive. And yes some varroa treatment can and will kill a perfectly good hive.
>That word success means very different things to different people.
It seems to me the word TreatmentFree also has no exact definition. Seems like you cannot get the 'Facebook' no treatment gurus to even agree on a definition.
> Do they yield surplus bees or honey? Are they able to service pollination contracts? Survive in densities sufficient to pollinate nearby crops? How did they manage to co-survive with mites, and for how long? And is this achievable in every locale? Or just some?
Mine produce a small crop of honey but I participate in no pollination contracts and try and keep them in ag locations with minimum pesticide use (large cattle ranches). How long do they live... well for the most about 2 years. A few will make it to year 3 which if they pass muster at year 3 become breeding stock. There are some location, no matter varroa or not, that will have a difficult time surviving and the more so the less experienced the beekeeper. Sadly much of the literature is written by folks that keep bees in prime bee location but 90% of the US is NOT a prime bee location. At least here more novice kill bees by thinking they can remove 100# of surplus honey when the data says the state average is 50%. < this of course can be compounded by the TF crowd who think you should never consider feeding honeybees.
>And why do they talk as though breeding up a Varroa-proof bee is our only option?
Personally I do not think it is the only option and certainly the 'soft Bond' approach points to why it should not be for any novice small scale beekeeper. I seem to recall in one of his article Randy Oliver covered this approach.
Gene in Central Texas but not for long...
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