Hi Floyd,


The idea of putting something into a drone frame that would be toxic to mites but not bees is very intriguing, especially if it could work all season without the need to pull the drone frames regularly (it would kill mites but not bees).  I have noticed though that bees sometimes decide they don't want drones so they fill the drone frames with honey and pollen.


The study you cite is one of those 'early days' science reports that sound promising until you realize that the delivery method for the knockdown is completely impossible at any larger scale....namely it can only be done in a lab, and they did it by isolating the mites first. (Plus if you read behind the lines you can see they didn't have an easy time getting this to work, even in the lab!)  When they figure out how to apply RNAi in the field....likely years and years away....it's kind of the "cancer cure" level of problem.....then it might be useful (or else it could turn out to be deadly in some unexpected way....Pandora's box!).


Christina

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