Varroa-tolerant honey bees are a reality

Zn the November 1998 issue of The American Bee Journal (pa. 828-832) we reported the results for the first two years of our effort to develop a Van oa-tolerant population of honey bees (Erickson ct. al,, 1998). We demonstrated that it is relatively easy to Sind Varroa-tolerant colonies among those in managed apiaries, and to propagate and maintain Varroa-tolerant honey bees in the absence of other mite control measures, Also resorted were corroborating data obtained front collateral studies which clearly showed that some beekeepers/bee breeders are currently doing this. In this brief article we provide an update on the continuing research. Our methods remain unchanged from those first reported except that we now sample the colonies less frequently.