On the beekeeping today podcast, hosted by Kim flottum and Jeff (sorry don't recall last name), dr Ramsey recently discussed his work exploring what mites actually eat. They eat fat, turns outs, sadly bee fat not human fat. 

During the podcast, dr Ramsey mentioned that if mites are feeding on and weakening adult bees, then using a brood break as part of an ipm strategy may be counter productive. This is a theory that can be tested... Perhaps has been tested! 

Has anyone noticed an unexpected drop on bee population after a brood break? What would problems due to increased mite pressure on adults even manifest as? 

And... Seems like a real sea change to look to prevent adult bee exposure to mites rather than during the pupal stage.... 

And if mites are feeding on and damaging adult bees in transit, then the phenomenon is no longer considered phoresy...

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