Peter Edwards wrote:

> There is a difference between 'kill' and attempt total annihilation.  We
> know that if there is no virus present then colonies can live with very
> large numbers of varroa  - I have seen reports of up to 12,500.  Perhaps if
> we had bees that were not susceptible to the viruses then they would be able
> to tolerate much greater loads naturally.

When you look at the size of the Varroa mite compared to the size of the
host, I question the ability of a colony to sustain high mite loads. In
comparison, it would be like carrying a tick the size of a volleyball on
our back. Not sure I could tolerate that. I doubt my bees would last the
winter here in Maine with high mite loads.

Usually bees that live with the mites have low colony mite loads which
means few bees are affected.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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