Hi Lennard:
you wrote:

It could be interesting for economical reasons but it might also be the perfect way to introduce a pathogen from dorsata to mellifera. I can't think of a reason that outweighs this risk.

Which pathogen would you worry about.  Several species of apis coexist now in the Philippines, since mellifera has been introduced.  I imagine that there is robbing.  The only thing I have ever heard of that can survive the wax melting processing is AFB spores, and this is far more likely to go from mellifera to dorsata than the other way.  From what I have read, most people are not much concerned about a few spores surviving the wax melting process, since the chances of enough of them surviving to initiate an infection are pretty remote.  And while it is possible that a dorsata comb might have AFB,  researchers have all remarked that the bees seem free of it, probably because they leave the old comb when they migrate, and they build a new comb when they return to the site, even if the old comb is still intact on the tree or cliffside.

Stan

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