===
"BTW, we're not hearing much bragging from the no treatment guys lately.  How's
that working out?"
===

Hi Allen,

I wont brag, -but I will describe the conditions
which exit in my area.

Varroa has not been a problem here for several 
years.  I do not know the reason for this, but it
has been accompanied by a very strong rebound in 
the feral population.  Also hearing  that all beekeepers 
in my area are reporting little to no mite pressure for 
several years now, as well as good surpluses.
I cant give credit to any special bee breed, or 
management practice for the success, they all 
are doing well across the board, in this area.
The beekeepers I know have simply quit treating,
as it it not needed.

I can only hope that beekeepers in my area
will once again choose the most  productive bee
as a priority when buying queens, -and resistance 
pegged further down the list, -IMO, this will benefit 
the breed I prefer, and also my breeding goals if they 
do this.  Too many exotic strains are messing up
breeding, but I have noticed a good improvement
in uniform subcasts, and a dominance of the 
strain I prefer in my area, which is good.

In my yards colonies are not as strong as I would 
like, but I believe this is in large part due to my focus 
away from tending the hives and towards bee removals
which are consuming a great deal of my time.  

Next season will be trying some commercial queens
along side my colonies so I can establish a yard
which I can use for comparing, and also to test 
my theory that any bee brought into this area
will do well without treatments.  If you can refer
me to a yellow bee breeder that is a good producer 
please pass the info to me.  I dont care if they are 
resistant or not.  

I believe the ferals once again dominate the 
population of bees in this area and may provide 
a balanced array of traits on the survival side, while
perhaps an integration of commercial queens may
help boost traits on the productivity side, -it will be 
interesting to see what happens next season.  

Location:
South West Pennsylvania

Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm