Old, but by no means irrelevant ... these studies closely mirror a report by Wyatt Mangum in ABJ (151:475) who saw an average of up to 10 mites/day acquired by mite-free colonies, with the maximum influx appearing during a dearth of nectar.

Interesting that drone excluders didn't reduce this. I presume the number of phoretic mites on drones is related to the infestation rate in the 'donor' colony. If this was very high, coupled with the increased propensity for drones to travel, it might lead to longer range infestations ... meaning that the area over which coordinated treatments are used would have to be much larger.

I'd be interested in other related publications if anyone is aware of them ...

Cheers
David

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