Re: Varroa heresies

Intergalactic Garage (igg@intrepid.net)
Mon, 27 May 1996 11:17:35 +0100

My concern about the 'natural solution' for varroa and other 'new' bee
plagues is that the will populations here in WV are virtually gone. This
tells me that having access to a wide variety of non treated plants is not
enough for the bees to cure themselves. I will admint that our woods have
been addled by years of gypsy moth spraying and this may have reduced
vitality of insect life in those woods, but it is my understanding that
many of the wild hives have been destroyed by mites.

We lost 12 hives here in one non-treated winter. We maintain a very large
herb garden that the bees have access to.

I am very interested in any/all information/ideas about solutions to the
mite problem, including resistant strains of bees.

Thanks

Allan Balliett
Claymont Farms, WV

>On May 27 you wrote:
>> Anyway instead of feeding, drenching and dosing bees with highly
>> commendably natural products, which incidentally continue the same
>> treat the symptoms mentality, why not surround the beehives with plant
>> producing those compounds so that the bees can harvest them
>> themselves? To simple and cheap I suppose.
>>In New Zealand we have many very healthy wild colonies. The stress of
>> feeding with syrup and excessive harvesting does make commercial hives
>> susceptible to a wide range of diseases, but that is also true of
>> sheep, cattle, poultry, pigs etc.. etc..
>>
>
>Just to show you how unorthodox your viewpoint is, consider this paragraph
>from the April issue of APIS, the Florida Extension Service Bee Newsletter
>by M.T. Sanford:
>
>> It is clear that a new kind of honey bee management is
>>emerging from the parasitizing effects of the Varroa bee mite.
>>Two kinds of beekeepers can now be identified; those with
>>experience "before Varroa," and those who began apiculture "after
>>Varroa." Persons in the latter category cannot appreciate the
>>relative laissez-faire beekeeping possible in the past. This
>>state of affairs is also being reflected in the bees themselves.
>>No longer able to exist in large numbers in the wild, these
>>insects are being pushed toward a greater reliance on humans that
>>can only be called "domestication.
>?!!!
>However, I think that your idea of planting some of the plants whose
>botanical preparations have been found effective in the vicinity of hives is
>a good idea. I also subscirbe to the the notion that general ecosistema
>degradation (inadvertant or deliberate--remember I live in a "low-intensity
>conflict" zone) is behind many of our pest and disease problems. Or as
>Fukuoka taught us, must of the problems of agriculture have their root in
>agricultural practices themselves. Regards, Ron.
>Ronald Nigh
>Dana Association
>Mexico
>danamex@mail.internet.com.mx