In message <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask] writes
>This morning I looked at the 5 mites that had fallen from one hive over the
>previous 24 hours.  I used a x10 magnifying glass.  One was alive and kicking.
>Another had the wherewithall to kick, but was unable to do so as it was dead
>and had a couple of large dents in the carapace.  The other 3 were more or less
>legless and 2 of these also had carapace damage, one having lost almost a
>third of it.
This is a small number for mite damage. The most recent info I had was
that grooming is a response to a larger, perhaps irritating infestation
and therefore throws down large numbers. Maybe you have a colony that
does it as the norm. Have you considered breeding from it? Lots of sons
and daughters??? This is very promising indeed. I look forward to a
serial reporting on mite fall and damage.
>I recorded over a sequence of observations over several months
>that
>there was a gradual but marked increase in the percentage of fallen mites
>showing signs of damage.
>
>I know that these observations are not by a large margin a scientific study,
>merely anecdote,
Many an anecdote builds into science. This is a serious observation from
an alert chap, studying his bees.
> but they do prompt the question - Is this an indication of
>learning in the hive?  My reason for wondering this is that I would assume a
>relatively constant proportion in a hive if it was random grooming or inherited
>instinct.
This is what John Dews reported and he suggested (privately) it was a
learned trait. This would be why it did not figure in Harbo's results,
though if it is learned, then it must be inherited that they do learn.
Again, Harbo's testing was perhaps over too short a time to pick it up.
Though his error margins (scientific for degree of uncertainty) were
high.
>What does the team think?
That's what I think, young man. I will forward your post to John and
Albert Knight.
--
James Kilty

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