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.

Honey bee colony losses in Italy

Abstract: (2010). Honey bee colony losses in Italy. Journal of Apicultural Research: Vol. 49, Honey bee colony losses, pp. 119-120.

The habitat disruption induces immune‐suppression and oxidative stress in honey bees

Abstract: The honey bee is a major insect used for pollination of many commercial crops worldwide. Although the use of honey bees for pollination can disrupt the habitat, the effects on their physiology have never been determined. Recently, honey bee colonies have often collapsed when introduced in greenhouses for pollination in Japan. Thus, suppressing colony collapses and maintaining the number of worker bees in the colonies is essential for successful long-term pollination in greenhouses and recycling of honey bee colonies. To understand the physiological states of honey bees used for long-term pollination in greenhouses, we characterized their gene expression profiles by microarray. We found that the greenhouse environment changes the gene expression profiles and induces immune-suppression and oxidative stress in honey bees. In fact, the increase of the number of Nosema microsporidia and protein carbonyl content was observed in honey bees during pollination in greenhouses. Thus, honey bee colonies are likely to collapse during pollination in greenhouses when heavily infested with pathogens. Degradation of honey bee habitat by changing the outside environment of the colony, during pollination services for example, imposes negative impacts on honey bees. Thus, worldwide use of honey bees for crop pollination in general could be one of reasons for the decline of managed honey bee colonies.

Proteome Analysis of the Hemolymph, Mushroom Body, and Antenna Provides Novel Insight into Honeybee Resistance against Varroa Infestation

Abstract: Varroa destructor has been identified as a major culprit responsible for the losses of millions of honeybee colonies. Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a suite of behaviors from adult bees to suppress mite reproduction by uncapping and/or removing mite infested pupae from a sealed brood. Despite the efforts to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of VSH, they remain largely unknown. We investigated the proteome of mushroom bodies (MBs) and antennae of adult bees with and without VSH from a stock selected for VSH based on their response to artificially Varroa-infected brood cells by near-infrared camera observation. The pupal hemolymph proteome was also compared between the VSH-line and the line that was not selected for VSH. The identified 8609 proteins in the hemolymph, MBs, and antennae represent the most depth coverage of the honeybee proteome (>55%) to date. In the hemolymph, the VSH-line adapts a unique strategy to boost the social immunity and drive pupal organogenesis by enhancing energy metabolis...

Honey bee colony mortality and productivity with single and dual infestations of parasitic mite species

Abstract: Colony mortality and productivity were compared between honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies infested by zero, one or both species of parasitic mites ( Acarapis woodior Varroa destruc- tor). Mortality, bee and mite populations, sealed brood, and stores were monitored for 16 months, begin- ning in May. By the following March, 5 out of 6 colonies with both mites were dead, but no other colonies died until September, when 3 out of 4 V. destructor colonies were dead. Dually infested colonies initially had more honey stores, but were dead by March. At that point V. destructor colonies had significantly less worker brood, fewer adult bees and more honey than colonies with no mites or tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi). The colonies with tracheal mites ( n = 9) and no mites (n = 8) did not differ in any productivity parameter measured. These results suggest a synergistic interaction between tracheal and V. destructor mites, treatments against tracheal mites should be applied in dually infested colonies, even if tracheal mites alone are not having an impact. Varroa destructor / Acarapis woodi / colony productivity / colony mortality