Peter wrote, (Re: non-virulent mites)

>>>I don't know how you would test this.,,,

Considering all the difficult things researchers do, it shouldn't be too hard. Set up some bait hives and catch the mites with the swarms. Then you study their reproduction. 

If it turned out to be true, my question is... how do we make use of the information? Breed truckloads of the weaker mites and distribute? They did something like this with fruit flies in Ca. They bred a strain where the males were infertile and dumped them into the population, making it difficult for many females to "find a good man" and propagate.

Dickm

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