Like Pargyle I have been treatment-free for many years and even those two or three years around a decade or so back I did treat it was only one or two of my colonies that seemed to have a high count (those lines have been discontinued..). I am now working towards providing over-wintered varroa-tolerant nucs for sale in 2023 - people can then choose whether they treat them or not. Retention of the varroa tolerance in future generations will clearly be tricky for beeks who do not have control over the drone population.
Then what's going on with all those beekeepers whose bees still died or had horrible infestations despite being treated with this, that or the other..or am I imagining that?
My way?
Both good points. You didn't tell me you are already working at it. There are perhaps more things you could do....My way?
I do graft from queens that have zero or low mite count; it’s one important criterion. Also, honey & temperament, low swarming etc. Randy Oliver has been doing it for years & making slow progress. I’m trying to do my bit but understand how monumental the task is.
one big problem is mite drift in autumn. If you leave highly infested colonies untreated they can end up overwhelming a ‘resistant’ colony nearby - then you lose those good genetics. If 500 mites arrive in September it doesn’t matter how resistant they are.
Also, think about how many bees there are and how few beekeepers raise their own queens. It’s a drop in the ocean. Long way to go.
That's an interesting perspective I've not heard before. It's increasingly apparent our gut microbiome plays an important part in our health - and faecal transplants have been used with success to improve the gut microbiomes with pretty starteling results (eg in Crohn's disease). Perhaps we ought to be focusing more on the total ecosystem that is the hive rather than just on bee phenotype - I've not heard this discussed before.
I'm afraid due to past very poor attitude you have earned a 'do not respond' notice from me on this thread.
Yes this has been talked about in relation to Ron Hoskins bees
Certainly it seems the conditions are impossible in some places, and like falling off a log in others. Finding out where you are on the spectrum, and whether you have a chance of bending things your way is critical.
Well yes but what is it that's working? If your success is due to a fortuitous convergence of not understood ecosystem events then it'll be hopeless for others to try to replicate? How do I get week mites and viruses without understanding what you did to get them, especially if the bee phonotype improvement suggested would tend to result in stronger pathogens not weaker. Could it be that you're lucky but attributing the benefits of that luck to some sort of intervention?One way to look at it is: what work, works
I wasn't intending commenting further in this thread but this idea of reducing mite fecundity was what originally interestedb me in BN's posts and whilst I have no evidence in respect of my bees it could well be yet another factor that permits some of us to remain treatment free ... it is a logical progression as bees do have abilities which we do not fully understand and it not beyond the realms of imagination that some bees could learn behaviour for selecting those cells more heavily infested with mites. Even if this is an inadvertent selection I can see that the genetics of the surviving varroa could be altered. Whether this is a transferably trait .. well the jury is out on that.
