Detection of Africanized bees in the Dominican Republic

Nikaido, Scott; Villalobos, Ethel M.; Castillo, Niyra R; Murillo, Ana Cubero; Rodríguez, John M; Aracena, Rafael Marte

doi:10.1080/00218839.2018.1447838

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Honeybees ( A. m. mellifera ) were first introduced into Cuba from the USA (Florida) in 1768, followed later by A. m. ligustica , A. m. caucasica and A. m. carnica 13 . Despite the presence of Africanised honeybees in some, but not all, surrounding Caribbean Islands 14 , a honeybee import ban for the last 60 years has allowed this large European population to thrive in Cuba. Studies using allozyme markers 15 , 16 confirmed that the Cuban honeybee population is European.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Luis¹,

Grindrod

Webb

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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The Varroa destructor ectoparasitic mite has spread globally and in conjunction with Deformed Wing Virus has killed millions of honeybee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies. This has forced Northern hemisphere beekeepers into using miticides to avoid mass colony losses. However, in many Southern hemisphere countries widespread treatment did not occur since miticides were prohibitively expensive, or a centralised choice was made not to treat, both allowing natural selection to act. The Varroa mite initially caused high losses before mite-resistance appeared in the honeybee populations. Initially, mite-resistance was only associated with African and Africanised honeybees. Although recently, several isolated mite-resistant European honeybee populations have appeared. Here we studied the mite-resistance in Cuba and found high rates of recapping of infested worker cells (77%), high removal of mites (80%) and corresponding low mite fertility ( r = 0.77). These are all traits found in all naturally evolved Varroa-resistant populations. We can confirm Cuba has the world’s largest European mite-resistant population with 220,000 colonies that have been treatment-free for over two decades and illustrating the power of natural selection. Cuban honeybees are also highly productive, 40–70 kg of honey produced annually, and are mild mannered. Cuba is an excellent example of what is possible when honeybees are allowed to adapt naturally to Varroa with minimal human interference.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Luis¹,

Grindrod

Webb

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Finally, Cuba's 60-year ban on honeybee importation has helped isolate the country from been invaded by Africanized bees which has occurred in many nearby regions (eg. Mexico, Southern USA, Puerto Rico, neighbouring Dominican Republic 7 and Haiti (D. Macdonald, Apiary Inspector, Min. of Agi BC, Canada, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Luis¹,

Grindrod

Webb

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The Varroa destructor ectoparasitic mite spread globally and in conjunction with Deformed Wing Virus killed millions of honeybees (Apis mellifera) colonies. Forcing Northern hemisphere beekeepers into using miticides to avoid mass colony losses. However, in many Southern hemisphere countries widespread treatment did not occur since miticides where prohibitively expensive or a centralised choice was made not to treat, both allowing natural selection to act. This Varroa caused initial high losses before mite-resistant appeared in the honeybee populations. Initially, mite-resistance was only associated with African and Africanised honeybees. Although recently, several isolated mite-resistant European honeybee populations have appeared. Here we studied the mite-resistance in Cuba and found high rates (77%) of recapping of infested worker cells, high removal of mites (80%) and corresponding low mite fertility (r=.77). These are all traits found in all naturally evolved Varroa-resistant populations. We can confirm Cuba has the world’s largest European mite-resistant population with 220,000 colonies that have been treatment-free for over two decades. Cuban honeybees are also highly productive, 40-70 kg of honey produced annually, and are mild mannered. Cuba has many queen rearing stations and is excellently positioned to export Varroa resistant European queens throughout the region and beyond.

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Honey bee populations surviving Varroa destructor parasitism in Latin America and their mechanisms of resistance

Guzman-Novoa,

Corona,

Alburaki

et al. 2024

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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The honey bee (Apis mellifera) parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, is considered one of the main causes of colony losses in European honey bee (EHB) populations around the world. However, some EHB and Africanized honey bee (AHB) populations (derived from the African subspecies A. m. scutellata) that inhabit tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, have survived varroa mite infestations in the absence of acaricide treatments. It is conceivable to expect that these honey bee populations, which have been subjected to natural selection over decades, would have developed resistance against V. destructor or possess pre-existing adaptations that allow them to survive mite parasitism. Here, we present a comprehensive literature review describing the spread of V. destructor and the honey bee populations occurring in Latin America (LA), and summarize the evidence of resistance of those populations to V. destructor. We also analyze reports describing the potential mechanisms of mite resistance and how they operate in those honey bee populations. Studies of a few EHB, as well as of numerous AHB populations exhibiting resistance to V. destructor in LA, unveil the existence of evolutionary adaptations that restrain V. destructor population growth and provide insight into the current host-parasite relationship. This review supports the notion that selective breeding of local honey bee populations from LA could be a viable strategy to manage varroa mite infestations in colonies.

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Detection of Africanized bees in the Dominican Republic

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

Honey bee populations surviving Varroa destructor parasitism in Latin America and their mechanisms of resistance

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