>as a separate issue, do you think this calls into question the drone/worker
brood infestation rates that have been put forth by the researchers?

Actually, John, I'm surprised at how relatively little work has been done on
mite distribution within a colony.  Fuchs wrote the "classic" paper, but
there has been a paucity of such research since, despite the question being
raised regularly by those creating models for mite population growth.

I hope that Dr Spivak's grad student publishes more details on mite
distribution.

And yes, there is both hard data, and my own personal observations, that
indicate that drone brood infestation is not a reliable indicator of overall
mite population.

Randy Oliver

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