>[There is] an unknown physiological effect of either worker pupae or adult bees in some colonies that reduces mite reproduction...

Thanks for the article references. I have attached the referenced papers for those who are interested.

The challenge remains cleanly separating adult varroa hygiene function from brood function or alternately identifying whether they are effectively two sides of the same coin.

Based on the research available to-date, it might suggest that both activities are on a continuum and are expressed at varying levels based on seasonality, varroa load, patriline make-up and probably a whole lot more.

Mondet et al attempted to define and classify the SMR component in European populations in the following paper (and continues to publish good work in this arena IMHO):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7565386/

And more recent work out of Spivak's lab by Dr. Wagoner adds an interesting wrinkle to the discussion, noting that:

'... brood from hygienic colonies was more likely to be removed than brood from UNS colonies, regardless of where the brood was fostered. These findings suggest that hygiene-related brood signals complement previously identified characteristics of hygienic adults, constituting an important mechanism of social immunity in honey bees.'

This paper unfortunately used to be open access but is now locked-down:

https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/111/6/2520/5095208?redirectedFrom=PDF&login=false



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