Kerry Clark of AGF 784-2225 fax (604) 784 2299 wrote:
  Re: Surviving Varroa
>    Survival with varroa and without treatment is not necessarily an
>    indication of resistant bees. In some situations, survival of a
>    colony can result from the type of varroa, rather than some
>    characteristic of the bees.
>
 
>    de Guzman's work in detecting 2 different types of varroa in North
>    America might be a step along the way toward benefiting from this
>    type of observation. I think this was reported at ABRC, but I
>    wasn't there. Can anyone who attended, add a comment?
>       I heard her speak at AHPA. She found two types of varroa in
North America, one variety was a more virulent strain. The distribution
of the mites was confusing. It looked as though they were introduced to
Noth America at several points. Maybe more samples should be analyized.
        Also check out "Relationship Between Food Availability and the
Reproductive Ability of the Mite Varroa jacobsoni in Africaized Bee
Colonies" by Moretto, Lionel....., in Jan ABJ.
        I wonder how much these two factors have screwed up measurements
of varroa characteristics?