Hello all, Since 1994 my beekeeping friends and i haven't been able to locate any feral colonies which have survived the mites. Until today. A fellow beekeeper called today with what i have been looking for. A documented feral colony in the wall of a building. Three years without any treatment of any kind. I rushed over a few hours ago to check the find out. I can't rule out the fact they might be a recent swarm in a old nest varroa killed out nest. The "owner" swears they came three years ago and have been there all this time. They appear to be a large colony of Italian bees,strong,bringing in pollen and by watching closely at both entrances i couldn't see any varroa on adult bees. The "owner" of the bees has been waiting 7 weeks for a exterminator. To make a long story short i am tearing apart her barn wall Monday and extracting the bees and comb. Having serious doubts about varroa resistant bees i hope to see for myself. I must admit i really didn't believe they existed in our area. There are many things going thru my mind now and i will know quite a bit more Monday night but if any bee-l readers can advise on a plan of action for confirming these bees resistant please advise. I plan to sample and test the bees myself for tracheal mites,nosema and varroa mite load. I plan to send a sample of the bees to Beltsville to see how our results compare. I plan to transfer the complete colony comb by comb held by rubber bands into frames. When i was president of the Midwestern Beekeepers assn. we made a professional video of removing bees from buildings. We have had a great deal of success with the transfer of comb to frames and use of our bee vacumm which does not kill the bees. I plan to put the colony in an area away from other colonies till August 1 then if still alive bring into high varroa area and leave untreated over winter. I promised my fellow beekeepers i would test a colony if they could find a live one. Any advice on controls or tests would help. I plan to reread any literature i can find. Any articles you can suggest would help. Bob Harrison Missouri,U.S.A. [log in to unmask]