Are these conclusions based on the large cooperative study involving  
many countries/labs in Europe published as a series in JAR?  It was a  
large effort, but in these large cooperative efforts it is everyone  
follow the same protocols.  The methods presented in those papers  
indicated that each cooperator chose different ways of dealing with  
varroa- some let things sort out without any intervention, others used  
cultural control methods, some may have used some intervention based  
on levels of mites rising.  With that variation in methods, it seems  
like a lot of factors can get confounded and limit the ability to make  
general conclusions.

This conclusion does not make sense.  The Avignon and Gotland bees  
appear to curb mite reproduction in brood through some mechanism(s)  
yet to be determined.  That reduction of reproduction should translate  
into decreased growth of mite populations, regardless of other  
environmental conditions.  If the tests had been standardized and  
varroa allowed to grow in colonies depending on their level of  
resistance, then these mechanisms should have made a difference  
consistently.

In other words, resistance to varroa is likely a stronger component of  
how colonies perform than local adaptation.  Unless colonies are  
treated, and then other factors become more important.

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