It should be obvious, and perhaps is to all of us who deal with honey bee mites, that there are several factors that are influential in mite reproduction rates. For years I have observed their behavior and made numerous notations for future reference.  Since the inception of my work, I have believed and so posted on this list, that one of those
factors is logistics.  Time and effort confirm this believe.  Foretic mites travel/ live on nursing bees, (primarily), bees which are responsible for nursing the growing bee larvae. Smaller cells require less visits by nursing bees than larger ones.  I ignore how many others may have observed this concept but it certainly is there for those who might
be interested.  Drone bee cells vs. worker bee cells is a perfect example of this concept. I realize that this posting may not shed new information on this subject but it may be useful for those who are not acquainted with mite behavior hence my reason for this posting.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez