For discussion
   1 when do varroa mites enter cells (they don't enter bees)
   The varroa handbook p 9 says
 
   Young varroa mites remain on adult bees for 5  to 13 days before
   entering brood cells.
 
   or
 
   44 % of young mites enter brood cells within 6 days
   69 %                                         12 days
   90 %...                                      24 days
 
   The mites enter worker cells between the 7 th and 8 th day
                or drone cells between the 8 th and 9 th day.
 
   2  the best single treatment for varroa
 
   (consider that some of the varroa problem is the complexity of variable
   conditions of climate, bee colonies, bee keeping areas, etc, which makes
   a simple answer to this simple question, inadequate)
 
   something that kills all the varroa on the adult bees in a beekeeping
   area, when there is no bee brood where the mites can be protected. The
   something might be the bees' behavior, a chemical, or a physical
   treatment.
   Of the options available, Apistan strips in fall when brood rearing is
   minimal, may fit what you'd like as a good treatment.
 
   3. what happens to the mites as the bee colony dies
 
   The details are speculation, but as a bee colony approaches a minimal
   size, bees from it may abandon and go to other colonies, carrying mites.
   Bees from other colonies may rob the honey stored in the
   now-poorly-protected hive, and carry mites back to their hives. The last
   remaining bees (newly emerging workers, queen) would have lots of varroa
   released as workers emerge.
 
   I've seen some strange results this spring, as hives aquire thousands of
   varroa from somewhere (much beyond the reproductive capacity of those
   mites which were there last fall).
 
 
   Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist
   B.C. Ministry of Agriculture
   1201 103 Ave
   Dawson Creek B.C.
        V1G 4J2  CANADA          Tel (604) 784-2225     fax (604) 784-2299
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