Today I discovered my bees have varroa. I have about 50 miles of bush between my operation and the next managed hives, so I'd hoped to stay free a little longer. I've always been highly skeptical of people claiming they got their best honey crop ever the year before they discovered mites. But guess what? Last year was my best crop in 15 years. I thought it had more to do with the 7 inches of rain in June, but the fact remains - last year, biggest crop; this year, mites discovered. So what's the theory on why this is so? Are the mites controlling the weather? Is the weather influencing the spread of mites? Or does the scent of mites in the air cause the hives to panic and bring in the mother of all honey crops? If I'd thought of this earlier I could have been using varroa mite pheromone to get bumper crops for the last 10 years. Or is there a law of physics, similar to Murphy's Law, but called Varroa's Law? Any scientific explanation for this phenomenon would be appreciated. Today driving home,I thought maybe there's a completely different explanation. Maybe only 10% of the beekeepers have this happen and they loudly tell everyone, as I am doing, 'Last year was my best year ever. How was I to know?', while 90% of the beekeepers had three progressively worse years before discovering the mite, and are afraid to admit it, lest someone say, 'What was in your smoker? You should have known.' Also on the way home I was thinking about a message last week from someone in a cabin in a clearing in a bush in Vermont, who was wanting to plant a nectar-producer that deer wouldn't eat. Burdock would work, maybe underseed with a mixture of knapweed and tansey. Hope this helps. ================================================================= Internet service provided by telus.net http://www.telus.net/