Genotypic variability and relationships between mite infestation levels, mite damage, grooming intensity, and removal of Varroa destructor mites in selected strains of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Guzmán-Novoa, Ernesto; Emsen, Berna; Unger, Peter; Espinosa-Montaño, Laura G.; Petukhova, Tatiana

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2012.03.020

Cited by 104 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

123

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Low rates of mite infestation in African-derived honey bee colonies have been associated with a number of factors, including high swarming and migratory behavior (Otis, 1991), high levels of expression of hygienic behavior (Guerra Jr. et al, 2000;Vandame et al, 2002) or grooming behavior (Moretto et al, 1993(Moretto et al, , 1997Arechavaleta-Velasco and Guzmán-Novoa, 2001;Guzmán-Novoa et al, 2012), reduced susceptibility to mite invasion and reproduction (Ritter and De Jong, 1984;Guzmán-Novoa et al, 1996;Medina and Martin, 1999;Mondragón et al, 2006), reduced cell size (Message and Gonçalves, 1995;Piccirillo and De Jong, 2003), and other factors of less relevance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) have low infestation levels of the mite Varroa destructor in different ecological regions in Mexico

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies of African and European descent were compared for levels of Varroa destructor infestation in 3 different ecological regions in Mexico. The 300 colonies that were studied were located in subtropical, temperate sub-humid, and temperate dry climates. The morphotype and mitotype of adult bees as well as their rates of infestation by varroa mites were determined. Additionally, the number of combs with brood and covered with bees was recorded for each colony. The highest frequency of colonies that were classified as African-derived was found in the subtropical environment, whereas the lowest occurred in the temperate dry region. Overall, the colonies of African genotype had significantly lower mite infestation rates (3.5 ± 0.34%) than the colonies of European genotype (4.7 ± 0.49%) regardless of the region sampled. Significant effects of genotype and region on Varroa infestation rates were evident, and there were no differences in bee population or capped brood between 7283 Genotypic and environmental effects on varroa mites ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 13 (3): 7282-7293 (2014) genotypes. Mite infestation levels were significantly lower in the colonies of the temperate dry region than in the colonies of the other 2 regions. These results are discussed within the context of results from studies that were previously conducted in Brazil. This is the first study that demonstrates the effects of Africanization and ecological environment on V. destructor infestation rates in honey bee colonies in North America.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) have low infestation levels of the mite Varroa destructor in different ecological regions in Mexico

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If capped infested brood is not protected from the selective hygienic behavior of adults, it is not possible to discern the influence of brood from that of adult hygienic activity. Most recent efforts at improving genetic resistance in honey bees of widely diverging origins link the strength of active behavioral defense mechanisms with lower mite populations or mite densities in colonies (Ibrahim et al 2007;Danka et al 2010;Guzmán-Novoa et al 2012;Rinderer et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting honeybees for worker brood that reduces the reproduction of Varroa destructor

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-We investigated an effect of Apis mellifera worker brood on the reproduction of Varroa destructor as a resistance trait by conducting seven generations of bidirectional selection. Initial tests showed twofold differences in mite fecundity (progeny per foundress mites) between colonies of different origins. In the first two generations of selection, low and high lines differed significantly in mite fecundity (2.6 vs. 2.9 and 2.3 vs. 2.8), but in five subsequent generations the average values of the low fecundity lines (ranges of 2.7 to 3.3) became indistinguishable from high lines (2.9 to 3.1). Similarly, the relationship between mite fecundity in 117 offspring colonies and in their 26 queen and 22 drone parent colonies was partly significant in the first three generations but not in subsequent generations. These findings suggest that adaptation of mites to host cues, loss of resistance alleles in a small breeding population, or environmental effects present challenges to breeding for this trait.Varroa destructor / selection / honeybee / reproduction / heritability

show abstract

“…La baja fertilidad del ácaro se ha considerado como el bee populations. Low mite fertility has been considered as the main mechanism of tolerance to varroosis in the USA (47); however, in other countries, low brood attractiveness to the mite, grooming behavior and HB show association with low infestation levels of V. destructor (30,49). Therefore, some traits that have a strong influence in conferring tolerance against the mite in bee populations of certain regions of the world may not have it in others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…principal mecanismo de tolerancia a la varroosis en los EUA (47) , sin embargo, en otros países, la baja atracción de la cría, el comportamiento de acicalamiento y el CH muestran asociación con niveles bajos de infestación por V. destructor (30,49) , por lo que algunas características que tienen una fuerte influencia en conferir tolerancia al ácaro en ciertas poblaciones de abejas y regiones del mundo, pueden no tenerla en otras.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Producción de miel e infestación con Varroa destructor de abejas africanizadas (Apis mellifera) con alto y bajo comportamiento higiénico

Medina-Flores

Guzmán-Novoa

Flores

et al. 2014

RMCP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMENEl objetivo del estudio fue comparar la producción de miel y los niveles de Varroa destructor entre colonias de abejas africanizadas (AA) (Apis mellifera) con alto y bajo comportamiento higiénico (CH) en el altiplano semiárido de México. Se midió el nivel de CH a 57 colonias por congelamiento de la cría con nitrógeno líquido (N 2 ). Las colonias se clasificaron en dos grupos: alto CH (> 95 %) y bajo CH (< 50 % de remoción de la cría muerta por congelamiento en 48 h). La producción de miel se evaluó durante el otoño y la primavera y el nivel de infestación por Varroa en abejas adultas se determinó antes y durante las cosechas de miel. En primavera, las colonias con CH alto produjeron significativamente más miel que las de CH bajo (21.4 ± 4.7 vs 13.4 ± 5.0 kg; P<0.01). No hubo diferencias entre los dos grupos de colonias para los niveles de Varroa (P>0.05). Estos resultados sugieren que aparentemente el comportamiento higiénico no tiene un efecto mayor en la resistencia de las AA al crecimiento poblacional del ácaro. También sugieren que el comportamiento higiénico alto podría contribuir a incrementar la producción de miel en épocas del año con flujo reducido de néctar.PALABRAS CLAVE: Abejas melíferas, Comportamiento higiénico, Varroosis, Tolerancia, Cosecha de miel. ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to compare the honey yields and levels of Varroa destructor between colonies of Africanized honey bees (AHB) (Apis mellifera) showing high and low hygienic behavior (HB) in Mexico's semi-arid high plateau. The degree of HB of 57 colonies was measured using the liquid nitrogen (N 2 ) brood-freezing technique. The colonies were categorized into two groups: high HB (> 95 %) and low HB (< 50 % removal of freeze-killed brood at 48 h). Honey production was evaluated in fall and spring and the level of Varroa on adult bees was determined before and during the honey harvests. The colonies with high HB produced significantly more honey than the colonies with low HB only during the spring crop (21.4 ± 4.7 vs 13.4 ± 5.0 kg; P<0.01). There were no significant differences between the two groups of colonies for levels of infestation by V. destructor (P>0.05). These results suggest that apparently HB does not have a major role in restraining the growth of Varroa populations in AHB. They also suggest that high levels of HB could contribute to increase honey production in AHB colonies during times of the year with limited nectar flow.

show abstract

Genotypic variability and relationships between mite infestation levels, mite damage, grooming intensity, and removal of Varroa destructor mites in selected strains of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Cited by 104 publications

References 34 publications

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) have low infestation levels of the mite Varroa destructor in different ecological regions in Mexico

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) have low infestation levels of the mite Varroa destructor in different ecological regions in Mexico

Selecting honeybees for worker brood that reduces the reproduction of Varroa destructor

Producción de miel e infestación con Varroa destructor de abejas africanizadas (Apis mellifera) con alto y bajo comportamiento higiénico

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About