Hi Dave & All,

>    But I do not appreciate the opinionated, self-righteousness tone
> of many recent posts. I've seen a lot of beekeepers with such a
> purist religious ferver who are no longer keeping bees at all. I don't
> wish for the chance to say, "I told ya so." but fully expect the time
> to come with more of our beekeeper colleagues.
>

Ditto, right back at ya Dave!

I have some hives that are already three seasons old and still going strong
and I increased and made new queens with these. So Dave, when do you expect
me to no longer be with you and the rest of our colleagues doing things in a
pure religious way? According to the "The Varroa handbook" I should have
lost my three season old hives already and this winter I will lose all the
rest of the bees I keep. When should I fail and when can I say that I am
succeeding with out dopes?

>    I'm glad there are some who have other sources of income to
> support their beekeeping. Maybe they will become "point men" and
> gain valuable information for all of us.
>

It will not work unless someone gets the point. With honey prices up it is a
good time to make the necessary changes in an operation to over come the
varroa problems by experimenting at least a little bit instead of just
talking down on those who are pointing the way.

> I would not feel that way for my bees.
> And I don't feel that way for the people that would be subjected to
> famine if we let "nature" take its course and allow the majority of
> our honeybees to die, our beekeepers fail, and our crops lose that
> much pollination.
>

Working on fear will let this happen. Working on courage would not let this
happen. There are strains of Apis mellifera that that are resisting the
varroa but many beekeepers are falsely fearful of them. Many of our
colleagues are fearful of the Lusby's bees but most reports of the behavior
of the bees they keep are that they are gentle and not to be feared. When
will our colleagues have the courage to keep bees without dopes? Some of our
colleagues have taken the course and allowed the majority of the honey bees
they keep to die and breed a resistant bee, they have done the courages for
us. Fear will keep you from your victory.
   . ..
c(((([
Keith Malone
Chugiak, Alaska USA
Caucasian Bee Keeper
http://takeoff.to/alaskahoney

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