Chris Slade wrote (in part):

>Of course I agree that swarms will carry varroa mites, but during the
>swarming season a mite will spend maybe 2-3 days on adult bees but 16 days in
>a capped drone cell.  From this it follows that at that time of year about 4
>out of 5 mites in a colony will be on larvae, not on adults.  If a swarm
>leaves with say, half the adult bees they will take with them about half of
>the mites NOT in the cells, ie, only about 10% of the total mites in the
>colony.

   A swarm entered one of my swarm hives, at which time I snuffed out the
bees, dumped them into soapy water, and counted the varroa mites.  In that
swarm of about 2000 bees, I found 57 varroa mites.

                                                        Adrian

Adrian M. Wenner                    (805) 963-8508 (home phone)
967 Garcia Road                     (805) 893-8062  (UCSB FAX)
Santa Barbara, CA  93106

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*
*  "When we meet a fact which contradicts a prevailing theory,
*  we must accept the fact and abandon the theory, even when
*  the theory is supported by great names and generally accepted."
*
*                                      --- Claude Bernard, 1865
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