> Given what we all know about the effects of selective pressures on
> populations, is it not a concern that by widely using drone sacrifice to
> control Varroa, we are inadvertently applying a selective pressure on
> Varroa to push their genome toward one which infests worker brood at higher
> than present rates (since they are overwhelmingly the ones left to reproduce)?

So, then, what do we "know" about the effects of selective pressures on Varroa? We know that if certain chemicals are used to control them, the susceptible mites die and the population is replaced with chemical resistant mites. I have never heard of Varroa mites responding to any other "selective pressure." Perhaps someone has evidence of this happening. Chemical tolerance is one thing; adaptive behavior is quite another. 

PLB

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