Taz, I cannot find anywhere a reference to any more episodes of Honeybee Blues. Have I missed looking somewhere? And does anyone have a link yet for those who haven't seen last week's show?
Robbo, I think research is usually a slow process! Thank goodness for years of research elsewhere before we have to confront the problem. Maybe Anderson will come up with a way to stop the chemical emitted by the larvae which indicates to the mite to multiply.
Im not sure I agree with thie ethics & sustainability of this package bee business where bee's are flown from here, to go work a single crop, get diseased and die. Seriously?
I believe that a lot of queen and bee breeders ship to America. There just isn't the market here for them to make a living from the few packages or queens that local beeks need. They get an order, so they send them there. Some people like to start off with varroa-free bees. Naturally they can't be imported from anywhere, or we'll get varroa too. I wonder if anyone knows..do colonies sent to the almond fields usually get mite treatment, or are they seen as expendable? I would guess that the failure rate is similar to anywhere with varroa.
truck bees in from every part of the country, mix em all up for the length of the crop then ship the now entirely Varroa ridden lot of em back to where they came from. Duh, how does that make sense?
Micko, we can only learn from those sorts of things here, I suppose. There was a recent quarantine area around Mareeba way when they found Apis cerana there (the carrier of Varroa jacobsoni), so I am positive if we do get varroa, there will be restricted movements of bees to slow the spread, like there is with banana plants.
What were your impressions Lone
Slicko, I loved the music and the pictures. They didn't have a lot of positive things to say about the future of the bee. We all know how forests get cut down, and the reduction of leatherwood in Tassie is rather annoying. I suppose the greenies might be too complacent after saving the Franklin River to be tying themselves to bulldozers. Anyway, someone is making short term gain out of the apple isle. Clearing used to be encouraged here by governments, and many didn't see then that it wasn't a good idea. Where I am, they realised too late that grass won't grow unless there are trees!
I was very sad when I saw those people in the jungle losing their hives and their bees. I hope they can recover soon. It's good Anderson found the problem when he did. It's such a challenge, with the mite changing like it does and becoming resistant to treatments.
I wonder about the claim, though, that there are no wild hives in america. Obviously there are swarms all season, and new wild colonies being formed. Does anyone know how long a colony can live for in the wild in a varroa area?
Lone
