Dear All

It has been said (by a Dutch student, see below) that Varroa may be
sensitive to the distance between the rim of the worker cell and the larva.
If it is too far to reach the larva, the mite may stay out of the cell and
so not reproduce.

How might small cell size impact on this behaviour?  I suppose that it is
not the best time to ask 4.9 trialists (in the N hemisphere at any rate) to
look to see if the headspace above larvae in 4.9 cells is deeper than normal
(or shallower for that matter), but does anyone have any observations?

all the best

Gavin.

The Dutch University dissertation (look for Chapter 8):
http://www.agralin.nl/wda/abstracts/ab3010.html