Matthew,

It is my understanding that background levels of DWV exist in most colonies and rarely do harm. I've read that some horizontal transmission through trophallaxis occurs between workers and occasional vertical transmission can occur from queen to egg. In a healthy colony, however, this virus isn't much of a problem. It's not until the virus is actually injected, as through the bite of a mite, that it becomes problematic.

I suspect that even if you rid your old equipment of the virus completely, any new varroa moving into the hive will come with their own fresh supply. In my opinion, it's not worth worrying about. Keeping varroa levels low seems to be more efficacious.

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