This series was the difference b/t empirical data vs plain observation.....and the difference is staggering. The first presentation essentially provided nothing but speculation based on years of experiencce. Tom's provided real useful information based on real data based on observation and documentation and research.

I am always extremely impressed with Tom Seeley's observation abilies, and findings.

As a beekeeper, this gave me a lot to think about and perhaps change with respect to bee management.

time - topic 5:20 NY state locale (Ithaca)(Arnot forest) 8:37 wild bee colony hunting 13:20 Varroa arrived 1992 15:00 wild colonies 1978 vs 2002 17:40 bait hives searching for varroa 20:00 nature vs nurture coping w/ Varroa 20:40 genes pre & post varroa bee DNA 25:30:00 mt DNA variety reduced to 10% 28:24:00 morphological changes 29:12:00 behavioral changes (ankle biters/hygienic Varroa) 32:27:00 nuture: colony density 34:00:00 linear pairs vs single dispersed 35:00:00 bee drift by looking at drones (yellow vs dark) 40:00:00 nest volumes vs Langstroth 42:30:00 swarming frequency vs Varroa & survival rate 47:56:00 swarming effect on Varroa 48:41:00 nest geometry 50:00:00 cell size effect on Varroa 51:00:00 propolis 53:45:00 summary ferrel bees and Varroa 56:00:00 suggestions 1:01:00 Q&A Hive lifecycle and relative contributions of nature vs nature Hive size for business Super Varroa mites 1:11:37 Shook swarming 1:13:25 medical values of propolis 1:14:14 citizen watch ferrell bee 1:18:20 Verroa counts 1:20:50 Dark bees 1:22:00 smooth hives vs propolis 1:24:30 mt genetic diversity 1:27:24 flame box effect on propolis 1:28:00 optimum distance between colonies 1:28:38 Asian hornets vs hive size 1:30:06 insulation thermal performance

Very good topics and speakers, we as an international society of beekeepers should demand more scientific methodology and study of our lovely and fascinating bugs in a box, so we all can be the lighthouses of the betterment of all. "Be ashamed to die without achieving some victory for humanity" - Horace Mann

I found the mention of insulation very interesting. I also found the defense of manufacturers and the shutting down the topic very interesting.

Very interesting on the observation of African bees on mites. As a South African beekeeper, I caught 6 swarms last year around August and translocated two hives. In one of the translocated hives I noticed mites and after a month settling in the hive, the colony superceded the Queen with only one queen cell and soon after a month all mites disappeared!!! Which was shocking! Till today I dont use any treatment on my bees and they have been without any virus, bacteria or mites

Some great information! The ankle biting is also interesting to note as the uncapping of mite containing cells. Etc

Excellent presentation.

Greetings from Kangaroo Island. I sent queens to the Philippines in 2014, and, their progeny dealt with varroa, and, tropilaelaps. And the bees were gentle and easy to work with as well. Also my bees are excellent propolis gatherers too.

so well done!! thank you for doing it right! audio and video 5 stars!!! quality!

I've always thought that standard beehives are way to big. I use 8 frame medium lands and even these I believe are not what bees need. In Japan they use small square blocks about the size of a 2×8" box. Seems to work great, but it is not inspectable. I believe the warre size box is optimal with removable with frames.

Hi , listening about the insulation of the hives, 1 remarks that i would suggest is that the study of the wild bees show that the colonies were small so no number of bees to need to keep warm compared to our hives that are bigger with more bees , so insulation of the hives, i think is not that important. There is a good example of this in watching canadian beekeeper blog , which he shows that he's colonies are kept well below the temperature that we experience in Britain or the rest of Europe. Manitoba is cold

Thank you for the detailed presentation! What do water collectors do when they don't need water..!?

I use diving rods to find power crystals to lead me to the leprechauns with varroa resistant honey bees and then barter with them using power gems that I make out of sugar. They can't tell the difference at first. By the time I get the bees, the rainbow portal is closed and they are too late.

I have a hive that showed me something I had never seen. Bees coming out of the hive with larvae and flying away with them. I saw 2 then 4 and I had no idea what was happening. I managed to snag one of the larvae and was surprised to find a varroa in it. Good God they were treating their own hive. From looks of it. They were flying far away to dump these infected hive members.

Is there any way to research Roger"s interesting hypothesis of scouting bees in the hive and at the door of the swarm distination

Any chance of the paper reference for the disease drifting ?

1:33:24 (Tom - Give it a try!) hard to hear but i think its important, so i just wanted to highlight that.

Hi, I was wondering if robbing pressure could be the cause of colony collapse and the drive for bees to have more honey in the hive at harvest time results in bees that are going around and essentially killing all the weaker hives.

One thing is never mention with regards to the wild colonies is that the cones are all connected to one another and not in our hives. Have any study been made on this? That you for your conference.

Tom Seeley says: The surviving bees evolved to be smaller, suggesting these bees might require less time to develop. Since the mites infest nursery cells in hives, the shorter development time may allow young bees to develop into adulthood before the mites can finish their development. Mite-resistant honeybees in Africa are also small and have short development times, Seeley said. -- so what Ed and Dee Lusby always claimed that small cell bees is a requirement for Varroa and disease resistance is true: resistantbees.com/blog/?page_id=3569