Hi Pete,

Long time no see! (Ha!)

So what do you make of the fact that our bees came from the Alps, as you say, but have more trouble with mites in the temperate climates than in tropical or sub-tropical places?  Yesterday you taught everyone at the FLBC Bee Wellness workshop (an ESHPA Bee Wellness Tier 2 workshop) that Russian bees have been plagued with mites the longest.

What's different about Russian bees, vis-a-vis temperate climates and Varroa resistance?

Is something about mite biology "off" in temperate climates, enough to make them a dangerous parasite, instead of just a nuisance parasite?

And what about beneficial mites?  Why doesn't anyone appear to care about them?  (I can't find any reference to beneficials in the Bee-L archives, or in any recent literature?).  If they are truly beneficial, and eat unwanted fungi or other refuse in the hive, they will be missed by the bees when the miticides kill them.  At least, that is what I would predict.

Christina

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