http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4238250.ece "For years scientists believed that the deformed wing virus (DWV) was spread by varroa destructor mites, which have invaded and spread infections among honeybee colonies in Britain. But researchers from the Rothamsted research institute in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, found out that DWV does not grow within the mite. Instead, the infection has been found only inside the gut of the varroa, suggesting that the mite has merely eaten it from the bodies of bees already infected. Varroa mites cannot regurgitate their gut contents, and so would not be able to transmit the virus. The researchers used an antibody technique to track the viral particles. It does not appear that the virus has invaded the mites’ cells and can reproduce within them." **************************************************** * General Information About BEE-L is available at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm * ****************************************************