> Any discussion of zero or limited treatment gets invaded by the > perfection-nazis and degenerates to do-so, do-not kind of discussion. > There is another problem, and that is verification. One reason the commercial operations are easy to critique is they are visible and the failures cannot be hidden. You lose 2,000 colonies in Almonds and people know. You lose all your 5 colonies in your backyard and you can still say that your method of keeping bees is the best and few know otherwise. Add that some "alternative" beekeepers (who knows what that means) have websites or have books that do not reflect the reality of their apiaries, but they are quoted as successful beekeepers with new approaches to beekeeping. When I teach beginning beekeeper courses, the first thing I tell them is the key to being a good beekeeper is to have good bees. I have long thought that most of the success in "alternative" beekeeping is the continued culling of the bee. It has nothing to do with the techniques but everything to do with the bee. So when you mentioned Russians, they seem to be in the mix of races that they work with in defining their techniques and credit the technique. We see this with AHB and Dee. What is the actual reason for her success? As noted, it always gets back to the bee. I share your concern in proceeding with this discussion as it can generate false hope. All beekeeping is local and what may work in the warmth of Florida may be a disaster in Maine or Alberta. Races of bees developed for a reason: to survive in local conditions. Which is why I love Carneolans and not Italians. They do great in Maine winters as they came from a colder climate. It is all the bee. The super bee is a nice concept, but I doubt if we are in the age of one size fits all. Bill Truesdell Bath, Maine *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L