>
>
> Here is another take on Darwinian beekeeping - that effective mite
> treatment (at least in my apiary) prevents selection for Varroa resistance.
>

I'm not sure I follow. How does keeping varroa mites low with miticides
prevent selection for Varroa resistance?

Treating may reduce or eliminate your ability to be able to tell which
colonies have naturally low varroa levels, thus breeding from those with
low mite levels, but I don't understand how treating would, by itself,
prevent or otherwise destroy a natural or genetic resistance for Varroa. If
a colony is able to, for example, maintain a brood nest temp. higher than
average, and thus reducing varroa's ability to reproduce, how does a OAV
treatment hinder, destroy, or prevent that ability?

That's like saying homes that have maids prevents selection for people that
can keep their house clean on their own. I'm not sure it works that way.

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