Hello All,
George wrote:
 You stated that this beekeeper who lost hives to AFB "had been using
Hygienic  Queens."  My question is: Were these hives and bees been TESTED
for proof of  hygienic bees, or had the beekeeper just purchased queens that
had been  advertised as having Hygienic Behavior?

The queens were from the Marla Spivak Italian line orginally started by
Basil Furgala and the work later done by Marla. Having used the line for
many years and tested for hygienic behavior on several occasions I believe
most of the lines daughters show hygienic behavior but of varing degrees.
 George wrote:
 I think bees possessing Hygienic Behavior may be the best answer to make
some  disease deaths of honey bees obsolete; but it is going to require a
different  type of person to keep bees than we have today.
Hygienic behavior is certainly a strong point in picking a queen to graft
from. Most researchers and beekeepers agree with George that hygienic bees
could be the solution for many of beekeepings problems. They could be a big
asset dealing with varroa.
Beekeeping has inadvertently culled many beekeepers over the last decade. In
my opinion further adjustments will have to be made by those remaining if
they are to continue beekeeping as new problems arise. Many large beekeepers
are discovering they are having to reduce numbers in order to keep healthy
bees. Many sideline beekeepers are realizing in order to market their honey
because of low wholesale prices they can not successfully manage the number
of hives they could before mites,etc.
Bob