Do Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) mite flows between Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies bias colony infestation evaluation for resistance selection?

TL;DR

This study investigates how mite movement between honey bee colonies affects infestation levels and challenges efforts to breed mite-resistant bees.

Contribution

The study reveals that mite immigration significantly influences colony infestation levels, challenging assumptions in resistance selection.

Findings

Mite immigration contributed 17–48% to infestation levels in experimental colonies.

Mite immigration was not linked to local colony density or nearby infestation levels.

Beekeeping management practices strongly impact mite infestation levels.

Abstract

Since the global invasion of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman), selection of mite-resistant honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies appears challenging and has to date not broadly reduced colony mortality. The low published estimated heritability values for mite infestation levels could explain the limited genetic progresses obtained so far. We hypothesize that intercolonial horizontal mite transmission could differentially affect the single colonies located in a given apiary and therefore invisibly bias colony infestation phenotypes. This bias may be lower in regions with lower colony density, providing suitable conditions to set up evaluation apiaries. To verify these hypotheses, we monitored mite infestation and reinvasion in experimental colonies, as well as infestation in neighboring colonies belonging to beekeepers in three areas with variable colony densities in the canton of Bern, Switzerland during three consecutive beekeeping seasons. Mite immigration fluctuated between apiaries and years and significantly contributed to colony infestation level. Depending on apiary and year, 17–48% of the mites present in the experimental colonies at the time of the summer oxalic acid final treatment potentially derived from mite immigration that had occurred since mid-spring. Mite immigration was not linked to local colony density or the infestation levels of beekeepers’ colonies located within 2 km. Our results do not prove that apiaries for colony evaluation should necessarily be established in areas with low colony density. However, they highlight the high impact of beekeeping management practices on mite colony infestation levels.

Graphical Abstract

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