I have spent the past 48 hours reading thesis and disertations enough to cause a persons brain to melt. I have been researching material on Apis Cerana which by some records are able to deal with Varroa.
Well it is always good to go to the source I say. So I did.
I emailed Dr. Otto Boecking of the Bee Institute in Celle, Germany. He has articles published in ABJ on Varroa.
I sent the email just like you saw in my orginal post. The answer was better than the question. Here is his email.
Dear Brendhan,
Varroa is itself available in different species and here in different hablotypes and the parasites of different Honeybees species as the following table shows. Varroa jacobsoni and Varroa destructor are both destructive for the bees. But V. jacobsoni reproduces only in A. cerana. In this host this mite only reproduces in the drone brood. Whereas V. destructor can reproduce in both A. cerana and A. mellifera.
A. cerana are not resistant against Varroa because of the grooming ability – the most reason is the restricted reproduction in drone brood, which is only available in short time periods in the year and in only restricted amounts. The grooming and hygienic behaviours are only additional mechanism to reduce this parasite.
Because you did not sent you address with your mail please let me know where you life and what you are doing
Best regards
Dr. Otto BoeckingI sent him my address. Attached was a gif file
I know it must seem like I am on the verge of meltdown. I am. I am use to dealing with engineers who are basically idoits. I understand they can go to college for four years and come out dumber than they went in. I usually give a break when dealing with the title Dr.
As with most childhood fantasies mine are being washed away by some praticle applications.
The breaking point was Mr. Hays saying that 99% of all feral colonies were destroyed by varroa. I may even give a little on that and say he meant just Florida. Even with that. Based on the number of feral hives tested by the state and the USDA. We didn't reach 90% AHB until last year. Also trying to find the documentation on the destruction of feral hives by varroa is mainly at this point conjecture from what I can find even in scholarly articles. Everyone assumes the varroa were destructive to the feral hives but their are no real studies I can find to back it up. Certainly not at a 99% level of destruction. I have no doubt varroa were nasty mean and destructive but the numbers I am questioning.
I have been emailing Cornell, Davis, UF, and other entomolgy departments, labs and other places to find more reseach because I may be missing something. I would love for someone to be able to say Brendhan, it was 99% and here is the research to prove it.
The sideline is I am learning that there are different species of Varroa. Some are not considered an issue. Such as Jacobsoni. The problems is that the thesis and disertations say the US was invaded by Jacobsoni and it appears that is not the case. So here I am pulling my hair out because people with PhD after their name or Dr. in front of it might not have the right species of Varroa in their reports. And then there are some who might have the right one. The question is who?
Varroa Destructor and jacobsoni are different.
Excuse me I need to start drinking heavily.
Sincerely,
Brendhan