Greetings all

I have been following the deluge of messages on this subject with
some interest. I was pretty determined not to comment beyond my
earlier message (that in South Africa 4.9mm foundation does not
seem to prevent varroa reproduction), but I have been tempted into
another message.

The way I see it, the first question to be asked is not "can
European bees deal with 4.9mm foundation" but rather "does
4.9mm foundation make any difference in terms of varroa
virulence". In South Africa we will not be pursuing this issue, as we
already use (basically) 4.9mm foundation - but if I was in the USA
and I wanted to see if there was anything in the story, I would think
that the following would be reasonably appropriate.

(1) Select two European genetic lines from queen producers (say
NWC and Italian) and purchase 30 sister queens of each group.

(2) For each line, set up 30 colonies: ten with 4.9mm, 10 with
5.7mm, and 10 with just wax strips to allow them to produce
natural comb. {If you want to "retrogress" them, then you will need
more groups (say 5.1mm, 5.3mm, 5.5mm) and more queens}.

(3) Let them settle down for a couple of months, and then introduce
200 varroa (all from common source) into each colony.

(4) Monitor mite population dynamics, mite reproduction in worker
brood cells, and colony dynamics for 3 years, stirring occasionally.

At the end of this you might know if foundation cell size has any
noticeable effect on varroa reproduction - but you will certainly
know what cell size your bees prefer (the natural comb), and I
would be loathe to deviate from this.

And of course this whole process with take years and cost many
tens of thousands of dollars. But this (or probably something much
more complicated) is the only way to safe & certain answers.

As far as researchers not lining up to do this work: find the money
and you will find the researchers.

Or you could all work with AHB's which like small cells, which may
or may not be the reason that they may or may not be able to deal
with varroa.

Lastly, I've had a couple of enquiries in the past few days for
sources of 4.9mm wax foundation in South Africa - which I am not
going to answer - because I am certain to give you the names of
only some of those with 4.9mm foundation in South Africa - and
then I will be accused of favouritism or worse. Instead, please ask
Robbie Post (who is on Bee-L) and is currently the secretary of the
Federation of SA Bee Associations to provide you a list and
contact details of all in South Africa that might be able to provide
the 4.9mm foundation.

best regards

Mike Allsopp
Stellenbosch, South Africa