Bob, I've got the book in hand, and just skimmed through all the chapters > relating to varroa, but somehow missed finding any indication that the > hole > is for the removal of mites. Could you please direct us to the > appropriate > chapter? I have the book also and have read and reread a few times. Not sure of the exact chapter nor the time to search right now. Busy time for me as trying to shut down, get bees ready for winter and into new holding yard. The work of Dr. Harris (Peter posted) is not enough to show that cerana does in Dr. Harris own words prove cerana does remove varroa through the opening? I actually thought you guys would object to my saying varroa only reproduces in cerana drone brood as on *rare* occasions (using a Dr. Harris word) varroa has been found in cerana worker brood. > Now I'm really confused. To the best of my knowledge, neither A cerana > nor > mellifera perform hygienic mite removal from drone cells. Cerana is known for leaving a hole in the drone brood. Pictures of cerana drone brood I have seen (on the net also I would guess) show the holes. The few U.S. researchers I have spoke with familiar with cerana ( very few) always have said grooming and removal through the hole of varroa PLUS the fact varroa reproduction only occurs in the cerana drone brood ( also swarming) are the primary reasons cerana and varroa have a good host/parasite relationship. How many years it took is anybodies guess but Renderer especially said its highly unlikely mellifera will use the holes and varroa which prefers drone brood will (unlike cerana) always reproduce in mellifera worker brood if all that is available. Without checking and from memory I believe the holes are only found in cerana drone brood but I could be wrong and one needs to keep in mind that there are more than one cerana found in Asia. Some are reported to be the size of mellifera and others much smaller. I might be talked into giving a future predication for cerana but my view today is not a popular view and I feel at least 20 years ahead of general acceptance. bob *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm