Hi Everyone,
Interesting discussion on this topic.  However some issues seem to be a little muddled.  First of all whether a given genetic trait is dominate or recessive has no repeat no bearing on its frequency in the population.  Those terms only describe the interaction between the two forms of that same gene and how they are expressed when both are present in an individual.  Example:  In us humans the gene for type "O" blood is recessive but it is the most common blood type here in the USA ( and some other parts of the world as well ).  This "O" form of the gene occurs at much higher frequency in our population here in the USA than other forms even though it is recessive.  One cannot assume that just because a trait is frequently seen in  a population that that trait is a dominate one.

The letter in ABJ simply pointed out that any method including removal of drone brood to reduce the varroa mite population in a bee hive will select that population for any trait or traits that help the mite survive the treatment.
Now regarding selection specifically for a preference for worker brood over drone brood.  There is a great difference between the reproduction rate in drone brood and worker brood.  The varroa reproduction in worker brood is low - hardly able to increase in population at all so such selection could actually lead to coexistance.  Not sure but seem to remember a report from Europe of a population of varroa that had a preference for worker brood and so did not do much if any actual damage to the colonies since the mite population could not increase to damaging levels.

Karen wrote in part:

"I think the beekeepers that do this see a positive result -- "I removed
mites from the hive, I can see them" -- and confuse this with overall mite
population reduction. The two are not necessarily the same.  Until there is
reproducable research that shows multi-year mite control with this method
(no chemicals, but other IPM methods allowed), while maintaining honey
production (although not necessarily at the same level as with chemical
methods), I believe it to be a waste of time as a means of "control"."

The drone brood trapping methods have been researched and have been shown to be effective.  They are labor and time intensive but do actually work.  The letter in ABJ pointed this out but raised the issue of if this is a type of selection of the varroa population that we want to do.  Another concern is the lack of mature drones from these colonies for mating with queens.  If you destroy all your selected drones to control varroa, don't expect to be able to make very much progress breeding for those traits in your own bees.

FWIW

blane



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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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