Scent or movement of Varroa destructor mites does not elicit hygienic behaviour by Africanized and Carniolan honey bees

Varroa-specific hygienic behavior of Apis mellifera scutellata in Kenya

“…Of the 690 brood cells (69 brood cells per colony) artificially introduced with mites, Apis mellifera scutellata bees were able to uncap, remove the mite and recap 25.8% of the brood cells (178 of 690 manipulated cells) and removed 33.5% of the infested pupae together with the mite (231 of 690 manipulated cells). This is comparable to previous studies that compared to Africanized bees and Carniolan bees reported that 10% of the infested pupae had been removed by VSH bees and in about one third of the manipulated cells the mite had been removed (Aumeier et al 2000;Aumeier and Rosenkranz 2001). Aumeier and Rosenkranz (2001) further noted that Africanized bees were able to express hygienic behavior of between 24 and 44% Figure 2.…”

“…This is comparable to previous studies that compared to Africanized bees and Carniolan bees reported that 10% of the infested pupae had been removed by VSH bees and in about one third of the manipulated cells the mite had been removed (Aumeier et al 2000;Aumeier and Rosenkranz 2001). Aumeier and Rosenkranz (2001) further noted that Africanized bees were able to express hygienic behavior of between 24 and 44% Figure 2. Percentage response of Apis mellifera scutellata to manipulated cells introduced with mites.…”

“…scutellata bees responded towards artificially infested brood cells within a relatively short period. Maximal rates of manipulation were already recorded after 72 h. This result confirms previous observations that bees usually react to Varroa-infested brood cells within a few days following infestation (Aumeier et al 2000;Guerra Jr. et al 2000;Aumeier and Rosenkranz 2001;Harris 2007). The live mites were removed in 178 of 690 (25.8%) manipulated brood cells, and the cells had been properly recapped by the VSH bees, while only in a minor fraction of cases, 43 of 690 (6%) cells were found completely emptied (BR) with no recordings of the other hygienic behavioral components (UC, CO, MR).…”

“…The VSH trait interferes with mite reproduction (Villa et al 2009) as Varroa -specific hygienic reactions involves repeated uncapping and recapping of mite infested brood cells (Aumeier et al 2000;Arathi et al 2006;Harris 2007), leading to limited mite population growth, prolonged phoresy or even the death of the mites (Moritz 1985;Fries et al 1994;Harris et al 2010;Rosenkranz et al 2010). These hygienic reactions towards Varroa destructor in capped brood cells can contribute to the colony's resistance (Boecking and Spivak 1999;Aumeier and Rosenkranz 2001). Resistance in the original host, Apis cerana (Eastern honey bee), has been reported to be due to limited reproduction of the mite on this honey bee species and behavioral mechanisms of defense that involves grooming and hygienic behaviors' (Peng et al 1987).…”

Natural Varroa mite-surviving Apis mellifera honeybee populations

“…The Avignon miteresistant honeybees could have a higher sensitivity to environmental stimuli and be better adapted for detecting and removing mite-infested brood cells (Navajas et al 2008). It is not clear how bees are able to recognize the mite in brood cells but it may be by an unspecified stress reaction of the pupae (Aumeier and Rosenkranz 2001). Hygienic behavior or even specifically VSH behavior could explain the mite resistance in this population, since it has been shown that generally hygienic honeybees have higher olfactory sensitivity and responsiveness compared to non-hygienic bees (Gramacho and Spivak 2003;Masterman et al 2001).…”