>The principle is not look particularly new.  Some amateurs in the UK 
have been trying to do something similar since the late 90's

Ron Hoskins did the same in Swindon - going through thousands upon thousands of batches of floor debris looking for the signs of damage to mites.

It appeared that he was successful as his bees survive without treatment - but then Prof Stephen Martin found that there is a virulent form of DWV and a benign one.  When he analysed the Swindon bees he found only the benign strain...

This appears to offer an explanation as to why so-called resistant bees fail when moved to other locations.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W
 

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