Hello Dick & All,
Dick said:
According to at least one bee book there are occurrences of Varroa
reproducing in worker cells of cerana.
David De Jong mentions it in the section on mites he wrote for "Honey Bee
Pests, Predators, & Diseases.
  He gives this reference: 1988. Varroa jacobsoni does reproduce in worker
cells of Apis cerana in South Korea. Apidologie 19: 103-106.
He also mentions serious damage by Varroa jacobsoni to some cerana being
reported from India in the past.

With all due respect to David DeJong I write.  Did DeJong see varroa D.
reproducing in cerana worker cells?  Big difference also in his seeing and
using the words *reported from India*.

The book "Honey Bee Pests, predators and diseases" is a dated book.  Back
then we were painting varroa with a broad brush.
Varroa destructor (which is the subject  and title of this post and cerana )
had not been discovered.

  Hopefully Denis Anderson will separate fact from fiction. Maybe Denis will
find out  VD does reproduce in worker cells of a certain strain of cerana
but the general consensus between researchers I have talked to and read
their work say no. Beekeepers taking the China tour came back saying China
researchers said varroa j. did not reproduce in cerana worker brood.

To be fair what the early researchers saw might have been varroa underwoodi
( which is a slightly smaller species than VJ but is *almost* as wide).

Anderson, D.L., R.B. Halliday & G. W. Otis  reported in *1997*  (Apidologie
27: 461-466) that V. underwoodi was only a parasite of cerana  drone brood.

Denis Anderson has already made quite a bit of varroa J. research obsolete
by his  discovery of varroa destructor and now hopefully will be able to
seperate the fact from fiction in other areas .

The best source today for the compiled research on mites in my opinion is in
the book " Mites of the Honey Bee" by Webster & Delaplane. Outdated before
being published as far as varroa destructor is concerned( although mentioned
on pg. 10, 260-262)  the book still remains the best and quickest source of
mite information in the world in my opinion . Published by Dadant the book
is available through most beekeeping supply houses.

Bob

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