In message <[log in to unmask]>, Computer
Software Solutions Ltd <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Would not a combination of SMR bees and an open mesh floor be worth trying?
>It seems to me that Americans are fortunate in having access to SMR bees, as
>I see that they are now extensively advertised in The American Bee Journal.
>In this country, importation of bees is prohibited. How does one get started
>with SMR bees from scratch or is it a viable proposition? Any comments or
>advice would be appreciated.
Dear Tom
The Americans did research on their bees. We need to do the same.
Several different sources suggest SMR is a character in honey bees. (For
example, bees making a comeback in the US would most likely have to be
SMR). What strength it has in our own bees over this side of the
Atlantic and in the different races of honey bees is as yet unknown, in
the sense that if it is and someone knows about it, they haven't put it
out on the lists or into accessible literature (from whence it is
usually put out on the lists) so far as I know. One American project
starts with measuring mite fall and having selected the best colonies,
they are left untreated to see how they survive (perhaps this is an
oversimplification and distortion of the whole process). A lower count
in some colonies suggests the bees have one or more mechanism to keep
the population level lower than in those other colonies (sorry about the
almost tautology) (we have at least 3 known factors: SMR, hygiene and
grooming, the last having been identified in A.m.m. as well as A.m.c.
for some time now). Breeding from them and replacing the others with a
higher mite load is a start, however long the process would take given
the multiple gene issue and the need to get the drones right if open
mating is used. At least, if we find a colony that keeps the level of
mite fall constant and low, we'd know it was either not providing the
environment for mites to reproduce, or it was removing mites as fast as
they were being produced. Personally I think it is much better we all
forge ahead on this one rather than waiting for some breeder to give us
all our nice new SMR queens of some foreign race developed somewhere
totally different environmentally and thus try to replace all the local
bees which have developed to suit our own areas. The "grass is greener"
syndrome has certainly not benefited British beekeeping IMHO but that's
another hobby horse.
--
James Kilty