>
> >I guess if there is any GREATER message to be gained here they are 1)
>> beginning with resistant stock is something worth considering although it
>> does force you to leave 'the cheapest' path
>
>
> In part, I've never really been able to receive a consensus on where to
> acquire "resistant stock." There are a number of isolated operations that
> do not treat for varroa, so apparently have some level of resistance. But
> when you remove those genetics from that particular location, the
> "resistance" doesn't necessarily carry with it. I've taken queens from
> reputable "treatment free" operations in TX, or VT, or AL and transplanted
> them to NC and watched their mite levels (unrecorded, unfortunately), and
> all eventually collapsed due to varroa.
>
> "begninning with resistant stock" may not be as easy of a statement as it
> appears, as obviously there are a number of additional, and probably
> unknown factors at play.
>
> and 2) all those doing treatment need not worry about us Darwinian
>> beekeepers.
>>
>
> I dare to say that "you" Darwinian beekeepers need to worry more about
> everyone else than "we" need to worry about "you". If the goal is to follow
> Darwinian beekeeping, and part of Darwinian beekeeping is to reproduce (as
> closely as possible) natural colony density levels, and natural colony
> density levels amount to 2.5 to 5 colonies per square mile, you very well
> may find the neighbor down the street that has 3 colonies in his back yard
> just eliminated your possibility of actually following Darwinian beekeeping
> accurately by already possessing all of the colonies that your location may
> naturally hold. So all "you" Darwinian beekeepers might want to take a
> fairly accurate survey of existing colonies around you first.
>
>

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