> Demonstrated by Apis cerana. Varroa is handled by cerana in three main ways. 1. varroa does not reproduce in the worker brood of cerana therefore limiting reproduction to only times when the colony is producing drone brood. 2. swarming. Cerana swarms more than any race of bee I have been told which limits varroa. 3.cerana keeps an opening in drone cells from which to extract varroa from cells. Mellifera is not known for any of the above and not likely to change any time soon . A bee which can handle varroa (untreated) as managed in commercial operations today seems unlikely but we must remain optimistic. bob *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm