# Dave w



## tony350i (Jul 29, 2005)

Hello Dave,

Re: your reply on the post Small Cell...Silver Bullet?
>It's funny how the right bees make all the difference no matter what you use or do. If you DO NOT have bees that are already resistant, youre doomed.


I was under the impression small cell and natural cell in the core of the brood nest is what is required to keep the mite population to a level that the bees can stay healthy, providing there was good forage of nectar and pollen coming in to the hive.

I thought this could be achieved with any strain off bees that you wish to keep.

Do you think the only way I will be able to achieve this is to open mate with local feral bees, if so then I am going to have a big problem as where I live there isnt that many if any feral bees left.

Tony

[ January 18, 2007, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: tony350i ]


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I saw a noticeably decrease in Varroa mites and had no real problems with any stock I put on small cell. That would include Italians, Buckfasts, Russians and Carniolans. I'm certainly not against good stock, of course, and have continued to try to raise some.


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## tony350i (Jul 29, 2005)

Thanks for replying MB,

I will carry on using my buckfast cecropia queens and concentrate on the brood nest with smaller cells.


Thanks

Tony


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