Richard Drutchas wrote:
Dear Friends:
Good evening.
I promised myself that I would not make comments regarding controversial
themes but I am inclined to disobey my own restrictions on a subject
which I consider as
important as Varroa mites.  The following comment is very significant to
those of you who might be performing the "100 brood cell count!"
     Varroa mites have become my primary subject in apiculture since I
saw the first mite in 1983.  I have seen mites on cells of very tiny
bees (the smallest cells I have ever seen) and I have seen mites on very
large drone cells.  When I do larval cell counts I purposely select
equal amounts of cells from worker and drone brood.  I find Varroa mites
in drone cells as well as in worker brood cells. I have found worker
cell after cell with Varroa mites when there are no drone brood cells.
I am beginning to wonder if drone cells get more "visits" by the Varroa
mites due to a logistical relationship; since the drone larvae require
more feeding visits than worker larvae their ratio of exposure becomes
that much greater.  Unfortunately, the same bees that feed drone larvae
also feed worker larvae making worker larvae equally susceptible.  We
must bear in mind that the "nurse" bee duty falls on the youngest of the
colony, precisely those on which the newly born mites ride to the
surface. Varroa mites are where their host takes them!  Please accept
that as my theory.  I am not disputing anyone else's therories.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez