Hello Dee and All,

Dee wrote:
> Now we all know that in the Natural that drones breed mites
> and workers for the most part don't!

All we have come to realize for sure is that varroa seems to prefer  drone
brood of all its hosts and turns quickly to mellifera worker brood if drone
brood is not available BUT CERANA. . There are at least several possible
reasons  of which cell size is ONLY ONE OF THE POSSIBLE REASONS.

 (i.e. look at apis
> cerana!

Apis cerana is the odity of the bees varroa preys on. After doing a huge
amount of research on cerana  I have come to rule out the cerana cell size
as the only factor why varroa DOES NOT reproduce in cerana worker cells. I
could not find one case of varroa ever reproducing in a cerana worker cell.
The material I read states  VARROA DOES NOT REPRODUCE IN CERANA WORKER
BROOD. All material I looked at seems to conclude  the above as fact .

Although cerana in certain parts of the world lives on a cell size similar
to mellifera  on the small size 4.7mm to 4.9mm varroa still does not
reproduce I have read in worker cells.   Most cerana worker cells are quite
a bit smaller than 4.7mm in China and the drone size (I have read in the
book Asian Apiculture)  is around 4.7mm.

Varroa has been found to be able to reproduce in worker cells of all
mellifera AND simply moves to worker brood when drone brood is not
available. Even scutellata and capensis.

Capensis tolerates varroa best of all feral mellifera I have been told.

Cerana and mellifera WILL NOT CROSS  (Asian Apiculture book).

 In short cerana are similar  bees but not exactly alike. Not being alike it
is difficult to use cell size as the reason varroa does not reproduce in
cerana worker brood as different juvenile growth hormones might come into
play.

 I will be the first to admit I thought  for quite awhile the  reason varroa
never reproduces in cerana worker brood was cell size and I posted several
years ago I thought cell size was the reason. .

After looking  further, reading further and talking to cerana researchers  I
believe the reason not  to be cell size but another yet unfound reason.

All researchers I have talked to are quick to say we simply do not know why
varroa does not reproduce in cerana worker brood. When pressed researchers
seem to agree and three possible reasons.

1. different JGH than mellifera

2. shorter post capping time than mellifera in most instances

3. smaller cell size which cramps varroa reproduction.

All of the above is from memory.  If a knowledgeable cerana researcher on
the list has better information please  correct me if I am wrong in my
analysis of cerana . I always want correct information in my posts and I am
only a  beekeeper and not a researcher.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison