>
> The bees who have the mites or had mites are not the issue.
>
 
Yes, I understand that the "best" population to overwinter is a
population that has not had to deal with mite attack.  But my question
(the issue over which I wonder) is do attacked bees get over the attack
once the attacker is defeated?
 
Varroa attack bees via a "drill like" structure of their mouth parts
that they use to puncture bees' exoskeleton allowing the vampire mite
to suck bees' hemolymph.  Speculation is that these puncture wounds are
the avenues/entry points for virus attack.  My question is, do these
puncture wounds heal over once the varroa and their drill-like
mouthpart is removed, or does the door remains open for virus attack
once the mites are gone?
 
If the answer is no, the puncture wounds don't heal and the door remains
open, then all the more reason to treat early.  I guess as far as my
question goes, varroa is a red herring.  I could just as well have
asked, if a bee gets cut does the cut heal?  However, I ask because I am
wondering about virus invasion.
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!