by the way Varroa are mites that inhabit
a bee's trachea and inhibit their ability
to breathe...very destructive to California
bee keeping industry. Trachael mites make it
difficult to transport bees too because they
are neary invisible and could easily spread.
some bees are able to be kept over winter if
they are given a new queen the next year. CA
used to ship a lot of queens to Canada before
mites did so much damage to the hives here. I
studied beekeeping at a local community college
and we toured a queen hatchery with our class.
there are 3-5 hives just a few yards from my place
the neighbors have honey, mead and wax a-plenty!