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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
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Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:04:10 -0500
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>>The species looks so similar that he had to find a V destructor to put side by side to tell the difference.

>After  Denis made his observation many ( myself) went back over the pictures dating back to 1904 of varroa jacobsoni and varroa  destructor in the U.S. ( by our researchers) and only a blind man could not see the difference.

Actually, even before the discovery, I am sure many of us saw the difference, but thought nothing of it and assumed we were just seeing natural variation.  

The same applies to nosema.  We have been looking at the varying shaped spores ever since I can remember and assuming that, again, we were just seeing natural variation within a population.  We were expecting nosema apis, and saw nosema apis.

>The world researchers could not see the obvious difference in shape between varroa destructor and varroa jacobsoni!

I think that it is not that people did not see the differences, but rather that no one realised that it was more than variation within a population.  We see what we are told we will see or expect to see.

>To my knowledge  myself and the beekeeper are the only two people to believe varroa could have been introduced on purpose.

Actually, plenty of people, including authorities are accutely aware of the possibility, even probability of such sabotage.   What is surprising is how little such activity seems to take place. 

Another thing we all wonder about is how many such deliberate introductions -- and accidenatal introductions --  fail to take root.

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