What the varroa mite is telling us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLPEx...eature=related

Interesting.

Here's a post on which Acebird and I have some common ground. It is "interesting." It's especially interesting when one considers that treating mites is building up the mites resistance to present day chemical treatment. There is a group of people breeding bees that are resistant to mites, and there is another group of people that are tasked with producing the next chemical that will kill the evolving mites without annihilating the bees. We beekeepers are merely observers on the sidelines.

It is an interesting video.

I think the arms race is ongoing. Saying that those who treat are breeding stronger mites instead of breeding stronger bees is only sort of half way true IMHO. A bee that's resistant to mites, like the treatments, is also putting pressure on the mites to evolve so that they can then resist the bees' resistance. The bees will then need to resist the mites' resistance to their resistance...and on it goes.

The comments on Youtube are interesting.

I liked the one about "becoming one with American Foul Brood" by introducing AFB to your hives.
;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by libhart

A bee that's resistant to mites, like the treatments, is also putting pressure on the mites to evolve so that they can then resist the bees' resistance.

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I'm certainly no expert, but that's not the way I see it. The mites are not trying to kill their bee hosts, it just happens that they frequently do. It seems that if mites could have a preference, they would want to continue to coexist year after year in a hive with resistant bees.

What he is talking about is what a lot of us who buy and use "resistant" or "survivor" bees have been doing, thanks to breeders who did not treat, but bred the survivors.
Regards,
Steven

What a burnout!

So is it being assumed that balanced bees is a good thing? I don't find much on these forums that talks about balanced bees. I see a lot about productive bees. bees that produce far beyond what they need. So is this guy talking about balanced bees or bees that suit his idea of balance? Balance for me is a colony that produces 100 lbs of excess honey in a drought year.

Bees as pets. How cute!

:applause: I like the way you think, Daniel!