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.

Regular dorsal dimples and damaged mites of Varroa destructor in some Iranian honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Abstract: The frequency of damaged Varroadestructor Anderson and Trueman (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) found on the bottom board of hives of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) has been used as an indicator of the degree of tolerance or resistance of honey bee colonies against mites. However, it is not clear that this measure is adequate. These injuries should be separated from regular dorsal dimples that have a developmental origin. To investigate damage to Varroa mites and regular dorsal dimples, 32 honey bee (A. mellifera) colonies were selected from four Iranian provinces: Isfahan, Markazi, Qazvin, and Tehran. These colonies were part of the National Honey bee Breeding Program that resulted in province-specific races. In April, Varroa mites were collected from heavily infested colonies and used to infest the 32 experimental colonies. In August, 20 of these colonies were selected (five colonies from each province). Adult bees from these colonies were placed in cages and after introducing mites, damaged mites were collected from each cage every day. The average percentage of injured mites ranged from 0.6 to 3.0% in four provinces. The results did not show any statistical differences between the colonies within provinces for injuries to mites, but there were some differences among province-specific lines. Two kinds of injuries to the mites were observed: injuries to legs and pedipalps, and injuries to other parts of the body. There were also some regular dorsal dimples on dorsal idiosoma of the mites that were placed in categories separate from mites damaged by bees. This type of classification helps identifying damage to mites and comparing them with developmental origin symptoms, and may provide criteria for selecting bees tolerant or resistant to this mite.

Indoor winter fumigation with formic acid does not have a long-term impact on honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queen performance

Abstract: SummaryFormic acid fumigation has been used to control infestations of the varroa mite, Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman, and the tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi (Rennie) in honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies in various situations. Studies on the use of formic acid have generally focused on the immediate, direct effects of treatment. However, the potential for long-term effects is also of concern to beekeepers. The obJective of this study was to determine whether indoor winter fumigation of A. mellifera colonies with formic acid affects long-term queen performance by measuring sealed brood production, the frequency of queen supersedure, and honey production.Two experiments, during which A. mellifera colonies were fumigated with formic acid in an indoor wintering facility, were conducted during the winter of 2001–2002. After V. destructor populations were reduced to equivalent levels and A. mellifera populations were equalized, colonies with their original queens were evaluated for brood and honey pr...

Reproduction of Varroa destructor in sealed worker bee brood cells of Apis mellifera carnica and Apis mellifera syriaca in Jordan

Abstract: The reproduction of the honey bee mite, Varroa destructor in sealed worker bee brood cells represents an important factor for the population development of this parasite in honey bee colonies. In this study, the relative infestation levels of worker brood cells, mite fertility (mites that lay at least one egg) and reproductive rate (number of viable adult daughters per mother mite) of Varroa mite in worker brood cells of Apis m. carnica and Apis m. syriaca were compared in fall 2003 and summer 2004 at two locations in Jordan. The relative infestation levels in sealed worker brood cells ranged from 23 - 32 % in fall and 19 - 28 % in summer. The average fertility of Varroa mite ranged between 90 - 98% in colonies of A. m. carnica and between 88 - 96 % in A. m. syriaca with minor differences between colonies and locations. The number of total progeny of fertile mites in worker brood cells was 4.0 in both bee races. The reproductive rate was high with 2.7 and 2.6 in both honey bee races. The post-capping period of the worker brood cells differs only slightly between both bee races and between locations (284.4 h on average, n = 4,000). Our data reveal surprisingly high mite fertility and reproductive rates in both honeybee races under Mediterranean conditions of Jordan. The possible physiological background of Varroa reproduction and the impact of mite fertility on the development of Varroa tolerance are discussed.