Nothing new here but Randy's comments on splits and colony health reminded
me of why some beekeepers are able to tout "locally adapted" and sell bees
that seem to do better because their bees do better.

If you are a bee seller, you are in the best possible world to control
Varroa as you continually split colonies and introduce brood-less periods
that definitely slow down Varroa reproduction.

So the bees may not really be adapted but are being subjected to excellent
Varroa control. I see this with some of the "natural" beekeepers who sell
their bees but the bees do poorly with the new beekeeper who does not split
every season. Instead, also as Randy noted, they keep their bees for more
than a few years. Most of their problems are with Varroa and all the
subsets of Varroa.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

             ***********************************************
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