Grooming and removal behaviour of<i>Apis mellifera intermissa</i>in Tunisia against<i>Varroa jacobsoni</i>

Boecking, Otto; Ritter, W.

doi:10.1080/00218839.1993.11101297

Cited by 63 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This value is higher than described by Moosbeckhofer (1992) from observations of more than 100 A m carniea colonies and fits in the range of colonies which were 'preselected' for distinctive hygienic behaviour (Büchler, 1994;Wallner, 1994). Our rates of damaged mites show a considerable variation between individual colonies and between different recordings, although this variation is lower than that described by other authors (Moosbeckhofer, 1992;Boecking and Ritter, 1993;Büchler, 1994 Liebig, 1994 (Delfinado-Baker et al, 1992).…”

Section: Recordings Of Mite Mortality and Damagescontrasting

confidence: 52%

Damaged Varroa mites in the debris of honey bee (Apis mellifera L) colonies with and without hatching brood

Rosenkranz

Fries

Boecking³

et al. 1997

Apidologie

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Summary — The proportion of damaged Varroa mites within the debris of honey bee colonies is discussed as a possible tolerance factor of the host. We investigated the rate of damaged Varroa females in honey bee colonies with and without hatching brood. Additionally, in some colonies sealed brood combs were treated by the use of heat or formic acid to kill the mites within the brood cells to quantify the behaviour of the bees towards dead mites. In 17 experimental honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera) at two different study sites, the debris was checked at 12-h intervals. Nearly 5 000 mites were individually analyzed for three different types of damages. The percentage of damaged mites varied on average from 44 to 63% depending on experimental conditions. No significant differences in the damage rates of 'phoretic mites' and 'brood mites' could be found. Dead mites from the treated brood combs were damaged to a slightly lesser extent. The significance of these results for the use of the parameter 'damaged mites' in selection programs is discussed.

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Section: Recordings Of Mite Mortality and Damagescontrasting

confidence: 52%

Damaged Varroa mites in the debris of honey bee (Apis mellifera L) colonies with and without hatching brood

Rosenkranz

Fries

Boecking³

et al. 1997

Apidologie

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“…In general, tolerance to Varroa mites in Africanised honeybees has been attributed to the presence of a large number of infertile female mites (Camazine 1986;Rosenkranz and Engels 1994), the uncapping and removal of mite infested brood (Corrêa-Marques and De Jong 1998;Guerra et al 2000;Vandame et al 2002) and the mortality of both male and female mite offspring, which decreases the reproductive output of the mites (Medina and Martin 1999;Mondragón et al 2005;Mondragón et al 2006). In African populations, tolerance mechanisms have not been studied as extensively, but possible reasons for Varroa mite tolerance have been attributed to a short post-capping stage, good hygienic and grooming behaviour and high absconding and swarming rates (Moritz and Hänel 1984;Moritz 1985;Boecking and Ritter 1993;Allsopp 2006;Frazier et al 2010). This knowledge has been gathered from a variety of sub-species, of which two occur in South Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Varroa destructor on honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) colony development in South Africa

et al. 2014

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The devastating effects of Varroa destructor on European honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) have been well documented. Not only do these mites cause physical damage to parasitised individuals when they feed on them, they also transmit viruses and other pathogens, weaken colonies and can ultimately cause their death.Nevertheless, not all honeybee colonies are doomed once Varroa mites become established. Some populations, such as the savannah honeybee, A. m. scutellata, have become tolerant after the introduction of the parasite and are able to withstand the presence of these mites without the need for acaricides. In this study, we measured daily Varroa mite fall, Varroa infestation rates of adult honeybees and worker brood and total Varroa population size in acaricide treated and untreated honeybee colonies. In addition, honeybee colony development was compared in order to measure the cost incurred by Varroa mites to their hosts. Daily Varroa mite fall decreased over the experimental period with different dynamics in treated and untreated colonies. Varroa infestation rates in treated adult honeybees and brood were lower than in untreated colonies, but not significantly so. Thus indicating a minimal benefit of treatment thereby suggesting that A. m. scutellata have the ability to maintain mite populations at low levels. We obtained baseline data on Varroa population dynamics in a tolerant honeybee over the winter period. Varroa mites appeared to have a low impact on this honeybee population, given that colony development was similar in the treated and untreated colonies.

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“…Comparative data on hygienic behavior in honey bees of different strain or origin are rare (Boecking and Ritter, 1993;Moretto et al, 1993;Guzman-Novoa et al, 1999;Guerra et al, 2000). Our study represents one of the first long-term surveys of tolerant and susceptible colonies which were kept side by side.…”

Section: Importance Of the Experimental Set Upmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Africanized honey bee of Brazil (De Jong et al, 1984;Moretto et al, 1991;Rosenkranz, 1999) is one of the few examples of long-term tolerance to varroosis in Apis mellifera (Boecking and Ritter, 1993;Guzman-Novoa et al, 1999;Rosenkranz, 1999). Although no treatment is carried out by Brazilian beekeepers, neither colony losses nor economic impact are recorded.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of the hygienic response of Africanized and European (Apis mellifera carnica) honey bees to Varroa-infested brood in tropical Brazil

2000

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In order to examine the significance of hygienic behavior for the tolerance to varroosis of Africanized honey bees, they were compared with non-tolerant Carniolans in tropical Brazil. Capped worker brood cells were artificially infested with living Varroa mites, and inspected some days later. Uncapping, disappearance of the introduced mite and removal of the pupa were recorded in a total of manipulated 3,096 cells during three summer seasons. The hygienic response varied between Africanized and Carniolan colonies, but this difference was significant only in one year, during which Africanized honey bees removed a significantly greater proportion of Varroa mites than European honey bees. A high proportion of the mites disappeared from artificially infested brood cells without damage to the pupae. The opening of the cell and the removal of the bee brood are independent traits of a graded response by adult workers towards mite-infested brood cells. We found a higher between-colony variation in the reaction towards Varroa-infested brood of Africanized honey bees compared to Carniolans. The overall similar response of the two bee types indicates that hygienic behavior is not a key factor in the tolerance to varroosis of Africanized bees in Brazil.
Com o intuito de examinar o significado do comportamento higiênico na tolerância à varroose de abelhas africanizadas, elas foram comparadas com as não tolerantes Cárnicas no Brasil tropical. Células de cria de operárias operculadas foram artificialmente infestadas com ácaros Varroa vivos e inspecionadas alguns dias depois. Desoperculação, desaparecimento dos ácaros introduzidos e remoção da pupa foram anotados em um total de 3096 células manipuladas durante três verões. A resposta higiênica variou entre as colônias africanizadas e de Cárnicas, mas esta diferença foi significante apenas em um ano, durante o qual as abelhas africanizadas removeram uma proporção significantemente maior de ácaros Varroa que as abelhas européias. Uma grande porporção de ácaros desapareceram das células das crias artificialmente infestadas, sem danos às pupas. A abertura da célula e remoção das crias das abelhas são características independentes de uma resposta graduada por parte de operárias adultas com relação a células de crias infestadas por ácaros. Nós encontramos uma variação maior entre colônias na reação de abelhas africanizadas à cria infestada por Varroa, quando comparadas a abelhas Cárnicas. A resposta geralmente similar dos dois tipos de abelhas indica que o comportamento higiênico não é um fator importante na tolerância à varroose de abelhas africanizadas no Brasil

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Grooming and removal behaviour ofApis mellifera intermissain Tunisia againstVarroa jacobsoni

Cited by 63 publications

References 15 publications

Damaged Varroa mites in the debris of honey bee (Apis mellifera L) colonies with and without hatching brood

Damaged Varroa mites in the debris of honey bee (Apis mellifera L) colonies with and without hatching brood

Impact of Varroa destructor on honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) colony development in South Africa

A comparison of the hygienic response of Africanized and European (Apis mellifera carnica) honey bees to Varroa-infested brood in tropical Brazil

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