Can the Environment Influence Varroosis Infestation in Africanized Honey Bees in a Neotropical Region?

Abstract

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Varroa destructor Parasitism and Genetic Variability at Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Drone Congregation Areas and Their Associations With Environmental Variables in Argentina

“…Landscape, topography, and climate are relevant environmental drivers that can influence the prevalence of Varroa in honey bee colonies (Chemurot et al, 2016;Giacobino et al, 2017;Correia-Oliveira et al, 2018). Landscape composition has been shown to impact on bee health in general, and in V. destructor loads in particular (Youngsteadt et al, 2015;Giacobino et al, 2017;Kuchling et al, 2018).…”

“…However, the relationship between landscape and Varroa is not clear, because some studies have reported high prevalence of Varroa in colonies where urban land cover dominates (Youngsteadt et al, 2015), while others have described high prevalence of the mite where crops dominate (e.g., Giacobino et al, 2017). Similarly, in relation to topographic and climatic influence, some variables such as altitude, apiaries slope, temperature, and rainfall have been shown to be associated with mite parasitism in honey bees' colonies from tropical and neotropical environments (Chemurot et al, 2016;Giacobino et al, 2017;Correia-Oliveira et al, 2018).…”

“…In Argentina, apiculture occurs in four of six eco-climatic regions, and particular honey bees' ecotypes have locally adapted to these regions, with important implications for Varroa resistance, bees' productivity, and defensive behavior (Giacobino et al, 2016(Giacobino et al, , 2017Merke, 2016). For instance, in contrast to what occurs in the temperate regions of the country, honey bee populations exhibit general resistance or tolerance to the mite in the subtropical region, possibly because of the high prevalence of African-derived bees and the warmer temperatures of these regions (Hou et al, 2016;Correia-Oliveira et al, 2018). At the same time, not only climatic or bee genetics, but also agricultural and beekeeping practices, and landscape features, such as urban land cover, differ between regions, and are potentially important determinants of the levels of Varroa at apiaries in our territory (Abrol, 2012;Giacobino et al, 2017;Molineri et al, 2018).…”

Varroa destructor in Africanized honey bees in Brazil: genetic and reproductive profile

“…Due to the absence of well-defined seasons, rain occurrence and its effect on food availability may be more related to infestation rates. Each Brazilian region has specific rainfall characteristics throughout the year, which drastically affects bee flora and brood production, consecutively affecting mite reproductive dynamics (Moretto et al, 1997;Pinto et al, 2011;Correia-Oliveira et al, 2018). Besides environmental effects, a variation in biological features on bees among studied regions may also affect the relation between host and parasite.…”

Ocorrência de Varroa destructor em abelhas africanizadas em região semiárida do Brasil

“…No Brasil, o ácaro Varroa foi detectado pela primeira vez no ano de 1978 (ALVES; FLECHTMANN; ROSA, 1978), e embora as abelhas africanizadas apresentem resistência à patologia, nos últimos anos tem-se despertado preocupação quanto o aumento na taxa de reprodução do ácaro em células de abelhas operárias, quase o dobro quando comparado com a taxa de reprodução no período inicial de surgimento da doença no país. Este aumento significativo pode estar relacionado a mudanças genéticas entre os haplótipos de ácaros encontrados no território nacional (CARNEIRO et al, 2007;GARRIDO et al, 2003;WIESE;SALOMÉ, 2020), e pela ação de mudanças climáticas, fatores A varroatose está presente em todas as regiões do Brasil (GEHRKE;PUKER, 2020;MOREIRA et al, 2017;BARRETO, 2013;PINTO et al, 2015;SCHAFASCHEK et al, 2016), acometendo as abelhas africanizadas, porém, ao contrário do que acontece em outros países, os danos à apicultura brasileira causados por este ácaro ainda são toleráveis (CALDERÓN et al, 2010), pois estas espécies de abelhas desenvolveram rapidamente mecanismo de resistência, denominado de comportamento higiênico de remoção de crias doentes/infestadas (CORREIA-OLIVEIRA et al, 2018). Para mensurar os níveis de infestações nas crias, retirou-se de cada colônia amostral um pedaço de favo contendo crias operculadas (pupas).…”