In message <003c01c3f6a8$047941a0$43bc59d8@BusyBeeAcres>, Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> writes >As far as an open mating area James you really need to control the drones >for ten miles in all directions for close to perfect drone control. Of course, and this is not possible with my area. My friend has a better chance, near the tip of a more southerly peninsula (the Lizard). I am bringing in as many locals as I can into the rearing project, so, in time, hopefully!!! For the moment, I am bringing mating nucs to my largest, central apiary, and hope for conditions which favour our local strains and close geographical mating as well as cool weather strains. Both tend to bias against Italian bees, which I regard as inferior in our area. We do get people bringing in Italians and Buckfasts, either on a small scale, or as commercial beekeepers, so from time to time, we see obvious crosses coming out. What I am aiming for is enough involvement in bee improvement (for varroa management) over the county, that at least, people will develop their beekeeping skills, even if we don't get a bee able to manage varroa on its own. >Maybe wintering has more to do with the beekeeper than the strain of bees? I think the List has given enough information about practices to show this. Here our bees do continue to rear brood more or less throughout the winter and this makes for some variation in management, particularly with regard to varroa breeding. The imperative to learn is very strong! I am encouraged by the low mite counts we do get in many colonies though and I am sure that the genes are there to pull out. The parallel weakening of varroa, recognised in France, may mean we converge the two strands: varroa suicide and bee improvement. I hope this makes sense. -- James Kilty :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::