> >And... Seems like a real sea change to look to prevent adult bee exposure
> to mites rather than during the pupal stage....


Trish, it's been pretty well established that the infestation rate of the
adult bees is important to pay attention to.  This is because mites that
feed upon highly DWV-infected adults are then more "virulent" to the
subsequent pupae that they feed upon.

It's also been well known that newly-emerged mites seek nurse bees, likely
for three reasons:
1.  A nurse is unlikely to fly out of the hive and die.
2.  A nurse has well-developed fat bodies.
3.  A nurse can carry the mite to a cell containing a larva of the right
age to be parasitized.

But such feeding on that nurse makes it more difficult for the nurse to
perform her job.

I find that monitoring the infestation level of the adult bees is the best
indicator of colony morbidity due to varroa/DWV.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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