allen dick wrote:

> The authors say: "Varroa's preference for larger comb cells could be a
> contributing factor to the 60% higher infestation rates of adult bees
> that was found in apiary colonies, which contain both Italian- and
> Africanized-sized comb, compared to feral Africanized colonies, with
> only natural-sized Africanized comb, examined in the same region in
> Brazil (Gonçalves et al., 1982).  It is too bad that they did not prove
> that.

You came to the same conclusions that I did.

I wonder just what causes the selection of the larger cells. If some
mechanism was found, it could lead to another Varroa control (which we
do have with drone trapping, but could be something less labor
intensive). It could also be totally random and we are not seeing what
we think we see, as was shown with the organization of brood, honey and
pollen on a frame.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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