Hello all,
Since 1994 my beekeeping friends and i haven't been able to locate any feral
colonies which have survived the mites. Until today. A fellow beekeeper
called today with what i have been looking for. A documented feral colony in
the wall of a building. Three years without any treatment of any kind. I
rushed over a few hours ago to check the find out. I can't rule out the fact
they might be a recent swarm in a old nest varroa killed out nest. The
"owner" swears they came three years ago and have been there all this time.
They appear to be a large colony of Italian bees,strong,bringing in pollen
and by watching closely at both entrances i couldn't see any varroa on adult
bees.
The "owner" of the bees has been waiting 7 weeks for a exterminator. To make
a long story short i am tearing apart her barn wall Monday and extracting
the bees and comb. Having serious doubts about varroa resistant bees i hope
to see for myself. I must admit i really didn't believe they existed in our
area. There are many things going thru my mind now and i will know quite a
bit more Monday night but if any bee-l readers can advise on a plan of
action for confirming these bees resistant please advise. I plan to sample
and test the bees myself for tracheal mites,nosema and varroa mite load. I
plan to send a sample of the bees to Beltsville to see how our results
compare. I plan to transfer the  complete colony comb by comb held by
rubber bands into frames. When i was president of the Midwestern Beekeepers
assn. we made a professional video of removing bees from buildings. We have
had a great deal of success with the transfer of comb to frames and use of
our bee vacumm which does not kill the bees. I plan to put the colony  in an
area away from other colonies till August 1 then if still alive bring into
high varroa area and leave untreated over winter. I promised my fellow
beekeepers i would test a colony if they could find a live one. Any advice
on controls or tests would help. I plan to reread any literature i can find.
Any articles you can suggest would help.

Bob Harrison
Missouri,U.S.A.
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