> In fourteen years of work with Varroa mites, I have not seen queen cells
> with Varroa mites.  Why not?  Perhaps it is due to a relationship of
> logistics...
 
I've never heard of it either, but then, how many people uncap queen
cells?
 
I know some of us do occasionally open cells carefully to examine
pupae prior to emerging to determine development and look for the surplus
royal jelly which is an indicator of abundant feeding, then reseal
the cell.  (FWIW Jayzee BeeZee transparent cell cups -- which virtually
all serious bulk queen breeders use now -- have rendered this latter
purpose unecessary since one can actually see the surplus jelly thru the
cup).
 
The other major opportunity to examine many cells is in breaking them down
in swarming season, and I guess everyone does that once in a while at
least.  I suppose the question then is this:
 
How many readers have opened queen cells in hives that are noticably
infested with varroa and noticed that there were *no* varroa in *any* of
the queen cells when -- judging by the worker brood infestation levels --
it seemed that there should have been varroa on at least one queen pupae?
 
Allen