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I get them from Lidl if I need.

Only Hoppy's mind (used very loosely) could extrapolate from trickling Oxalic Acid to the availability of sprouts in Finland. Whatever medicine he is taking it isn't working...or is having disturbing side affects.
:ot:
 
I'll continue to manage my colonies for mites when necessary. Honey yield is only one side of my setup, queen breeding and nucleus production carry equal weight. Thriving colonies not only make honey, but produce good queens which head strong colonies that are still around come spring.

None of this is incompatible with what I said. In fact, my primary interest is in honeybee improvement. To me, honey yield is just another way of measuring progress.
 
Only Hoppy's mind (used very loosely) could extrapolate from trickling Oxalic Acid to the availability of sprouts in Finland. Whatever medicine he is taking it isn't working...or is having disturbing side affects.
:ot:

He only tried to be smart. That is all. Like Trump.

If you need sprouts here, you may dig them under snow.

I only wrote that I trickled hives and something moved in Cheer's mind.
Giant of intelligence.
 
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He certainly asserts it often enough but even his grammar and sentence constructs defeat that dream.
It’s very easy to blame typing mistakes and autocorrect for these errors on social media but unfortunately it is noticeable in all his recorded speeches too.

Back to topic though mild weather has seen all our bees flying for the last few days. Looking forward to the return of T-shirt weather. Much more exciting than Christmas as I get older.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Well he is doing something correct to be where he is today not to mention the fortune he has made..

???
You do know that if he had just taken the fortune that his Daddy had given/left him, and randomly invested it in the stock market he would have much more of a fortune... and over the past twenty years his fortune has decreased from about 10 billion to about 4.5 billion. you can add into that mix that he very nearly went bankrupt on two occasions - but expensive lawyers helped him get out of that.
 
???
You do know that if he had just taken the fortune that his Daddy had given/left him, and randomly invested it in the stock market he would have much more of a fortune... and over the past twenty years his fortune has decreased from about 10 billion to about 4.5 billion. you can add into that mix that he very nearly went bankrupt on two occasions - but expensive lawyers helped him get out of that.

Did you make that up as you went along..either way he is doing something right and i would cut my right nacker of to have a fraction of his money..
 
B+, I know your testing protocols are scientifically valid (Coloss?). How would a comparison of sister queens +/- varroa treatment fit into that? Would it be more than just an interesting observation if there was a significant honey yield difference between +/- treatment? Could such a measure provide a measure of progress in the breeding program?
Having said that, I think your yields put the vast majority of treated colonies to shame, including mine.

Some sisters may have been treated and others not. The programme allows for both but only untreated queens can be selected as potential breeders in the NL group (we call this the vitality test - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCcbj1Gv9UM ). If they were treated, this is also taken into account in the calculations for the varroa index.
Actually, the best measure of the programmes success is the breeding value of the stock raised. This is illustrated by the increase in the breeding value of the stock (http://www.beebreed.nl/teeltwaarde.html)
 
Seems you dont know even the basics about varroa. Wiping out a colony is the most effective means available to varroa for dispersal. Failing colonies get robbed out infecting neighbouring colonies.
Consequently there is zero selective pressure on varroa to be less virulent .

You don’t think much, do you? When was the last time a dead-out over winter get robbed out and resulted in the dispersal of the varroa mites?

Yes, you limited knowledge just tells about how much you think. Parasites do not set out to kill their host. It is self defeating if they die, along with the host.

Eventually, the mite and the bee must live together. If all varroa did was to kill off the host, they would not exist. I wonder where these mites came from, if there were no live hosts? The problem with varroa ia analogous to infecting Inuits with the common cold virus - it killed them in droves.

Contrary to what you might think, varroa is not going away. Treating has certainly been necessary over the last 25 years, but eventually - when humans have killed themselves off - the bees will need to look after themselves, without artificial chemical intervention. I think the colonies that continue to survive will be the ones that thrive.

On a similar note, perhaps beekeepers are just too greedy - they expect their bee colonies to return huge crops for their masters? A common fault of the human race. They are always wanting a better return from the animals and plants they have plundered. That was not the case when the planet was in better equilibrium.

Think about it. A little deeper than you clearly have done so far.
 
I truly believe if we stick to natural practices, including better selection and breeding - bees will overcome this on their own. Surely will take many years and we need to be ready to accept dead outs and lower yields.

Most would disagree. Some will tell me I don’t care about my bees (the usual ones), blah blah blah...
 
You don’t think much, do you? When was the last time a dead-out over winter get robbed out and resulted in the dispersal of the varroa mites?

Yes, you limited knowledge just tells about how much you think. Parasites do not set out to kill their host. It is self defeating if they die, along with the host

How about any day in the last 2 weeks when a dying hive could easily be robbed out, they dont need to be dead just sufficiently weakened . You should take a look at the stats for foreign bees coming and going from infected hives, before you try telling me about my limited knowledge .. You might also want to take a look at studies into varroa born viruses affecting cognition and age of foragers to increase means of dispersal.
You say i need to think more but its your small minded nature that has failed to consider thst the mite and viruses will always out evolve the bee. And becoming less virulent is not necessary for them if they can simply improve dispersal. Ask yourself how varroa spread so effectively when first introduced and at its most virulent?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw2B2ixiCx-40hTap4X_1jZx&cshid=1546339724897
 
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