Hello All,

 >Personally, I don't believe  breeding alone will ever fix the problem or
be a >long term solution.

Most researchers I have talked to believe this feat can be accomplished.
Their best quess to me was 20 years.  So we still have got at least 10 more
years of work left.

> What exactly does resistant mean? The key question is, is it resistant
> enough that no treatments of any kind are needed to keep the bees alive?

Bees simply *alive* is not good enough.  35 barrels of honey from 700 hives
is only about 31 pounds per hive (or about one plugged shallow super).

> > The number of feral  colonies in Europe and in North America far exceeds
the number of kept  colonies even now after varroa.

This simply is not correct for north America. Our researchers say 85 to 90%
of feral colonies are gone in the U.S. from mites and other beekeeping
problems. Certainly the feral colonies do not * FAR EXCEED*. kept colonies!
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri