>What I am thinking is that DWV was astronomical despite the varroa levels being at or slightly above the threshold of 3-4% Pete, I can't remember the paper offhand, but a similar phenomenon was documented in England several years ago--low mites, high DWV. It could well be that some lagging colonies these days are suffering from a particularly virulent variant of DWV. -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** 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