In "Biology and control of Varroa destructor" Journal of Invertebrate 
Pathology 103 (2010) S 96-119 (a link to the paper was posted on this 
list) Rosenkranz et al wrote (page 101 lower left):

In the original host A. cerana the reproduction of Varroa mites (V. 
jacobsoni and V. destructor)  is limited to drone brood for yet unknown 
reasons (Anderson 2000; Boot 1996; Garrido 2004; Rath 1999)

I see two possibilities:
- the female A. cerana larva has something that A. mellifera has not, 
maybe some pheromone that repels varroa.
- Varroa has changed when is jumped to A. mellifera.

Has there been an experiment of bringing a varroa strain that crashed 
our bees back to A. cerana to see if they now also crash A. cerana?

How could such experiment be conducted environmentally safe?

Jorg

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