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Varroa sensitive hygiene

About: Varroa sensitive hygiene is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 714 publications have been published within this topic receiving 24928 citations. The topic is also known as: VSH.


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01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: A little over a year ago, mites that had long been referred to as V. jacobsoni were found to be a complex of at least 2, but possibly 5, sibling species, which radically changed the understanding of Varroa/bee relationships.
Abstract: Until recently, only three species of Varroa mites had been recorded: Varroa jacobsoni, V. underwoodi and V. rindereri. Of these, V. jacobsoni had received the most attention from researchers, primarily because it was believed to have switched host from the Asian bee (Apis cerana) to the European honey bee (A. mellifera) some 40-50 years ago, then spread to become a serious parasite of A. mellifera worldwide. However, a little over a year ago, mites that had long been referred to as V. jacobsoni were found to be a complex of at least 2, but possibly 5, sibling species. These recent findings, together with others on bee taxonomy and Varroa reproductive behaviour on A. cerana and A. mellifera in Asia, have radically changed our understanding of Varroa/bee relationships. In this paper I briefly summarise these findings, before discussing what they tell us about controlling Varroa mites on A. mellifera worldwide.

3 citations

Posted ContentDOI
26 Sep 2015-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: A mathematical model of the coexistence dynamics of these two species, the bee and the mite, is proposed to analyze the role of resistance behaviors in the overall health of the colony, and, as a consequence, its ability to face epidemiological challenges.
Abstract: Colony Collapse Disorder has become a global problem for bee-keepers and for the crops which depend on bee polination. Multiple factors are known to increase the risk of colony colapse, and the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor that parasitizes honey bees is among the main threats to colony health. Although this mite is unlikely to, by itself, cause the collapse of hives, it plays an important role as it is a vector for many viral diseases. Such diseases are among the likely causes for Colony Collapse Disorder. The effects of V. destructor infestation are disparate in different parts of the world. Greater morbidity-in the form of colony losses-has been reported in colonies of European honey bees (EHB) in Europe, Asia and North America. However, this mite has been present in Brasil for many years and yet there are no reports of Africanized honey bee (AHB) colonies losses. Studies carried out in Mexico showed that some resistance behaviors to the mite-especially grooming and hygienic behavior-appear to be different in each subspecies. Could those difference in behaviors explain why the AHB are less susceptible to Colony Collapse Disorder? In order to answer this question, we propose a mathematical model of the coexistence dynamics of these two species, the bee and the mite, to analyze the role of resistance behaviors in the overall health of the colony, and, as a consequence, its ability to face epidemiological challenges.

3 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors found that a drone frame carried a median of 71.5 mites, and with the removal of four trap frames, about 286 mites can be removed per colony and season.
Abstract: Varroa mites are highly attracted to drone brood of honey bees (Apis mellifera), as it increases their chance of successful reproduction. Therefore, drone brood removal with trap frames is common practice among beekeepers in Europe and part of sustainable varroa control. However, it is considered labour‐intensive, and there are doubts about the effectiveness of this measure. At present, it is mostly unknown how many mites a drone frame can carry at different times of the season, and how many mites can be removed on average if this measure is performed frequently. Therefore, we sampled a total of 262 drone frames with varying proportion of capped cells (5–100%) from 18 different apiaries. Mites were washed out from brood collected from mid‐April to mid‐July based on a standard method to obtain comparable results. We found that a drone frame carried a median of 71.5 mites, and with the removal of four trap frames, about 286 mites can be removed per colony and season. In addition, mite counts were significantly higher in June and July than in April and May (Tukey‐HSD, P < 0.05). The number of mites and the proportion of capped cells, however, were not correlated (R2 < 0.01, P < 0.05). Our results suggest that drone brood removal is effective in reducing Varroa destructor numbers in colonies, supporting the findings of previous studies on the efficacy of this measure. Although mite counts varied, we believe that increasing sample size over different seasons and locations could elucidate infestation patterns in drone brood and ultimately improve drone brood removal as an integrated pest management tool for a wider audience of beekeepers.

3 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202327
202255
20216
20203
20193
20184