Dee Lusby wrote:

>The idea that mite resistant hives take mites away from
>others hurting via drift/or crashing should certainly not
>be new concept, and if it is to you, then you need to learn
>more about it and why this also is cause for skewed
>research results of both short term and long term duration!

There is a world of difference between "drifting" which is entirely
unintentional and the implications in the phrase "take mites away". Hives
are not "doing anything" when bees or mites drift into them. They are the
recipients of the contagious problems of the other hives. 

Drifting is a well-known phenomena, one I am entirely familiar with, and it
does tend to skew results when test and control hives are placed side by
side. However, most experts reject the idea that placing control and test
hives in separate apiaries will produce "more meaningful" results.

You see, too close and you get the inevitable drift. Too far, and you
introduce a new variable: the effect of a different location. How much
effect that may have is difficult to measure but it could account for any
differences in the two groups.

pb

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