Hello James & All, James said: >What about absconding from varroa riddled colonies, with a dwindled workforce? The above is my guess and what I have seen! Mellifera will abscond. I have seen bees abscond leaving sealed brood which many say does not happen. Absconding needs further research. The 92 edition of "The Hive and the Honey Bee" (1324 pages) only refers to absconding of honey bees on a single page (94). Before varroa arrived varroa was only given a single page reference in the book! A little talked about ( and I have NEVER seen in print) reason for spread of varroa is the absconding of workers from a heavily varroa infested hive. The workers can see the hive is failing so instead of going back to their own colony they return to the stand next to the varroa infested hive or the end hive. With a load of nectar or pollen the hive lets the workers enter and soon accepted by the hive. Certain races of bees except drifters better than others. My experiments with II queens and then finding workers of another race making up a third of the workers (at times) show without a doubt drifting of workers between hives is far more common than our beekeeping literature would have us believe. It is my opinion (and might cause a roar as not the opinion of most beekeeping authors) that in most hives the guard bees do not do a very good job of stopping worker drifters at the entrance. Certainly not the level which bee books say! Drifting drones is the method of varroa spread in the apiary other than robbing they tell us! I would change the statement to drifting drones AND WORKERS in the apiary with many hives. Bob -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---