Celotex insulation techniques

[user 6228]

You may have webbed feet Derek, I certainly don't.

compare your feet to that of a chimpanzee and you will see that are webbed in comparison

 

[user 6228]

Yes, Ive thought about it. One could even think about engineering DWV to act against it's vector.....many possible approaches...not all are very practical thought.

quicker to selectively breed varroa than bees, shorter lifecycle

 

[Hivemaker.]

Evolution is not an even process...

With bees having to live wild in cooler locations due to lack of tree holes, is keeping bees in highly insulated hives helping in this process... when they leave and go to live in this cooler environment.

 

[Beefriendly]

quicker to selectively breed varroa than bees, shorter lifecycle

Does tend to ignore the fundamentally important practical issues of selective varroa breeding and how that shorter life cycle can be used and tested against bees.

 

[user 6228]

Does tend to ignore the fundamentally important practical issues of selective varroa breeding and how that shorter life cycle can be used and tested against bees.

you dont get owt for nowt

 

[pargyle]

# of course, lots of Americans and others don't believe in evolution.

And one American in particular is probably evolving backwards .... Trump that !

 

[SDM]

Bees did not evolve to an abode! Their evolution is, like any other animal, survival and reproduction. The "abodes" they are able to survive in are many and diverse. The wrong assumption is that are only suited for one type of nest site. Simple observation shows you the flaws in that. A highly insulated nest cavity may represent the ideal, but is probably not typical.

Well then, as a Beekeeper are you not attempting to create "the ideal" environment for your bees, or is merely surviving your purpose?

 

[Millet]

compare your feet to that of a chimpanzee and you will see that are webbed in comparison

Mine arn't and i do not have webbed fingers either, please stick a picture up of such webbing as you may be a miracle of nature Evolution infact, i have gills behind my ears but i am not as advanced as you.

 

[SDM]

Is not every creature still evolving to their surroundings...evolution taking place all the time, as time goes by, or do they just stay the same, do not evolve, are no different now than they were a million years ago or nine thousand years ago.

That depends entirely on their level of evolution and stability of environment. Many species have remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years . Sharks , alligators unchanged for around 400 million years.

 

[SDM]

If EVERYONE stopped treating it would happen. Might not be the type of bee that is any good for beekeeping but they would evolve to survive with varroa or die.

Or die out completely. It always amazes me that treatment free advocates ignore the fact that evolution has led to far more extinctions than species alive today.

 

[SDM]

We already know it WILL happen. There are already several examples of bees in isolation that survive with varroa with no treatment. Different mechanism's in each case.

And far more examples where they die. It would then only take 1 lethal virus mutation and those that had evolved to cope would be gone as well.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Horseshoe crabs have been unchanged for about 250 Million years.

Even horseshoe crabs like Limulus polyphemus have changed, Gómez thinks we should retire the term altogether. "Darwin never intended it to be used seriously. The term is over-simplifying and leads to people believing that some things haven't evolved, which is so wrong.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150413-can-an-animal-stop-evolving

 

[pargyle]

And far more examples where they die. It would then only take 1 lethal virus mutation and those that had evolved to cope would be gone as well.

Well there's those that are bucket half empty people and those that are bucket half full ...

Personally, I think that the bees would survive and evolve not die out - some may describe this position as 'bloody overweaning optimism' but they have survived everything the world has thrown at them for millions of years and there's no reason to believe that they would/will not evolve and either cope with or overcome Varroa. Let's face it - they have only had to face varroa here for 30 years which is nothing in evolutionary terms and there are already some bees demonstrating promising characteristics in terms of survival.

We probably did more harm than good with the chemicals and potions previously (and still in some quarters) used to combat varroa. OA by sublimation appears to me to be the one treatment that affects varroa without affecting the bees and sits well alongside those who are prepared to allow their bees to be without treatment.

 

[Millet]

Regarding horse shoe crabs . i like them but i do not know how long they will be here, evolution for you..

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/how-horseshoe-crab-blood-saves-millions-lives/

 

[Beefriendly]

And far more examples where they die. It would then only take 1 lethal virus mutation and those that had evolved to cope would be gone as well.

Not sure what point you are making. Evolution is survival of the fittest......of course some die. But we already know from several isolated untreated areas that some WILL survive. No maybe about it.

 

[SDM]

Not sure what point you are making. Evolution is survival of the fittest......of course some die. But we already know from several isolated untreated areas that some WILL survive. No maybe about it.

The point being,
If these.populations were.truly.isolated their.survival would be an irrelevance.to the species. If not, then surviving 20 yrs( a mere heartbeat in evolutionary terms) with varroa tells us nothing about their ability to form the entire gene pool.of a successful species .
To.use.a.human comparison, a population surviving a war tells us nothing about the populations ability to survive the cholera epidemic that follows.
.

 

[Beefriendly]

If not, then surviving 20 yrs( a mere heartbeat in evolutionary terms) with varroa tells us nothing about their ability to form the entire gene pool.of a successful species .
.

Bees have successfully survived for millions of years. The hallmarks of a successful species. With one of the highest gene crossover rates (read potential new genes) their flexibility at adapting to new circumstances is well proven.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Evolution on 6th of December...........https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=67cdd9e5f90546cbbe69be5930ad8291&oe=5AB6733B

 

[pargyle]

Evolution on 6th of December...........https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=67cdd9e5f90546cbbe69be5930ad8291&oe=5AB6733B

Wow Pete ... that is a lovely photo of a completely mad colony - one wonders at what level of indecision kept them in the tree when they swarmed there. Are you going to house them or are they already doomed ?

 

[Madge]

Evolution on 6th of December...........https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=67cdd9e5f90546cbbe69be5930ad8291&oe=5AB6733B

Are they still alive?