In this article, the authors show that virus does replicate in mites
and when it does, it is far more damaging to the colony

> We analysed individual mites collected from freshly-hatched crippled and asymptomatic bees. All mites collected were strongly positive for DWV.  Analysis of virus replication revealed that all mites collected from crippled bees contained considerable amounts of actively replicating virus. In contrast, virus replication in mites collected from asymptomatic bees was not detectable.

> We provide correlative evidence that virus replication in mites is related to the development of wing deformity. Our data presented show for the first time  that virus replication in mites correlates with viral virulence. Furthermore, our data suggest that an important factor influencing the outcome of Varroa infestation is the proportion of DWV-transmitting mites in the mite population infesting a hive.


RT-PCR analysis of Deformed wing virus in honeybees (Apis mellifera)
and mites (Varroa destructor)
Constanze Yue and Elke Genersch
Journal of General Virology (2005), 86, 3419–3424

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