You  wrote:
>> When you take a large number of hives and leave untreated (Live and let 
die
>> method) then the result is always the same. Hive of bees which is not
>> prolific ARE the survivors!

You wrote:
>Yes that's what I believe too. Those bees will not be useful for
>anything other than pets….


Hello All,

This aspect of the colonies development of suppression is fascinating, and 
is where a major focus in breeding is directed.  

Another very high priority of mine is the collecting of feral honeybees 
from ‘all places’ and assessing them 'against each other' for comparative 
analysis of traits.  And in these comparative assessments, I am seeing 
what appears to be two distinct and diverging selective responses that 
honeybee colonies are employing against varroa.

Something to watch for that I am seeing:

1) Is the propensity thru ‘natural selection’ for traits affecting brood 
viability ranging from 82% to 87% to develop and or smaller brood areas as 
a means of varroa suppression.  And the main driving force in this case as 
far as I can tell seems to be lack of most traits affecting colony 
fecundity which also have a correlating affect on varroa fecundity.

2) Another response I am seeing is one that fly’s in the face of 
conventional wisdom.  Some feral varroa resistant colonies are exhibiting 
brood viability of an astounding 98% to 100% and are showing a much higher 
degree of traits associated with colony fecundity, but with no apparent 
increase in varroa population.  Not sure what the driving force here is, 
but I am hypnotizing that these colonies have developed other traits 
associated with varroa suppression.  And as a result, there was no  
pressure for the selection of traits that promote 'lack of fecundity' as a 
means of varroa suppression.

I have a theory concerning the different  ‘natural selective pressures’ 
that are associated with selective process behind each of these mite 
suppression tactics, but I assume it will be too controversial for this 
list.  Those interested, I would love to discuss this, please contact me 
off list.  

Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle 
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project:
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/ 

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