>I thought they preferred the Drone brood because of the longer development >cycle so that all of the femal eggs could develop and mate before emergence. >Briefly cycle is: > Female mite enters developing, uncapped, cell > Female lays first female egg > Female lays male egg > Female lays second female egg. > Female lays third female egg. > ? When does capping occur? > Female lays fourth female egg > eggs hatch and feed on bee larva (many molts) and pupa > mites mate in capped cell > females (fertilized) leave with larva. Male died. > ? How many eggs can a female mite lay? > ? are they all layed in one cell? > Ray, For answers to questions like that, I recommend the following: Mobus, Bernhard and Clive de Bruyn. 1993. The New Varroa Handbook. Northern Bee Books, Scout Bottom Farm, Mytholroyd. HX7 5JS. ISBN 0-907908-67-5 (Perhaps available from Wicwas Press in Connecticut: (203) 250-7575) There seems to be a variation in how much juvenile hormone is exuded by larvae, drone vs worker -- no need for mites to "decide" which cells to enter. Adrian *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail [log in to unmask] * * Department of Biology Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2838 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-4724 * ***************************************************************