“…The results of this study add to the notion of Africanized bee resistance to V. destructor parasitism, which has been documented in a number of studies [ 32 , 34 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 59 , 60 ]. The higher relative resistance of Africanized bees to V. destructor is apparently due in part to a lower attractiveness of Africanized bee brood to being parasitized by the mite [ 34 ], to lower rates of reproduction of the mite in the brood of Africanized bees [ 40 , 61 , 62 ], to frequent colony swarming and evasion [ 63 ], or to greater expression of mechanisms of social immunity such as hygienic and grooming behavior, compared to bees of European descent [ 33 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. It is possible that natural selection has favored the evolution of these traits to a greater extent in Africanized bee populations than in European bee populations, particularly because colonies of Africanized bees have not been subjected to chemical treatments against the mite at the intensity that European bee colonies have.…”