What the data in the paper does suggest is the need to revisit the earlier work on mite reproduction numbers. In the years since all those classic studies, maybe things have changed. The late-season mite wash numbers that come in at double digits seem increasingly unlikely to be from any form of a natural balance between robbing and collapsing. On the mite side, it seems plausible that a survival scrabble ensues from a dying colony in pursuit of a more suitable host, but the numbers are baffling.
I'm a believer, but I'm beginning to question what a wash is actually telling me in terms of total infestation - all those mites I see late season may be from that very colony I'm testing. Our breeders are doing brood dissection, and that may be more accurate but it's too time-consuming and complicated for the majority of beekeepers. A new hybrid protocol might help but would that just make mite management more difficult.
Bill Hesbach
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