Dusty :
 
On Sat, 21 Jun 1997, Dusty Rhodes wrote:
 
> I believe you would eliminate the mites which preffered drone cells which
> means you would breed mites which preffer workers.
 
Very interesting idea.  I have not heard it before.  I think it would be
possible to select for Varroa that prefer workers over drones if there is
heridible variability among mites in the cell preference (I mean, are there
some lines of Varroa that display a preference for worker over drone cells).
There is no evidence of such variability, but I don't know that anyone
has looked.  Anyways I have a guess that if one inadvertantly selected for
lines of that preferred worker brood to drone brood, that might not be
bad thing. It may be bad, but consider the following.  Varroa might only
grow to epidemic levels in a colony because they are able to amplify
themselves in the spring among drone brood (when they infest drone brood
they can make a lot more babies than if they infested worker brood).
Perhaps a pure line of Varroa that infests only worker cells would never
take off.  I realize the situation is more complicated, and my guesses
are likely wild ones, but who knows eh ?
 
 
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